Amy Peckens and Carol Layner of the Tunnel United Methodist Church in Marietta speak with representatives of the Marietta-Belpre Health Department during the GoPacks’ third annual Community Resource Fair in August 2024. Their church has an outreach program and they were at the fair to see what was available in the community to help people. (File photo)

PARKERSBURG — The White House has ordered a pause on all federal grants and loans according to a memo from the Office of Management and Budgets.

Organizations across the Mid-Ohio Valley shared their initial reactions and confusion to the grant freeze.

The order was scheduled to take effect Tuesday at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time with the directive that all agencies have until Feb. 10 to submit detailed documentation on all projects, programs and activities subject the pause.

U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan temporarily blocked the action Tuesday afternoon, minutes before it was set to go into effect. The administrative stay pauses the freeze until Monday.

The OMB memo stated that the suspension will provide the administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of funding for those programs consistent with the law and President Donald Trump’s priorities.

Local organizations found themselves scrambling to understand what the freeze could mean for them. Some organizations, like House to Home, a day shelter in Parkersburg, said that while they do not receive direct funding from the federal government, they anticipate seeing lasting effects for the non-profit community and smaller individual grants if the pause becomes long term.

“Non-profits likes us…how we run is from grants and donations from the community, that’s our lifeblood.” said House to Home Director of Operations Anna Dobbins. “If we don’t have grant money for operating costs then we’re going to have use the funding that we do have for operating costs and we won’t have money to provide our clients with the basic necessities they need.”

GoPacks, a backpack program organization that aims to educate families to ensure they no longer face food insecurity while also providing consistent access to nutritious foods, is unsure how it would affect them at this point.

According to Heather Warner, the director of GoPacks, the only way the organization would be affected is if the Americorps program has not had funds secured to support a position at their host site.

“Since we are only the host site, I don’t have access to the funding information at the tip of my fingers.” said Warner.

Other local organizations who receive funding or support from other governmental agencies are also left questioning what next steps are or if they will even feel the effects of the freeze. The Arc of the Mid-Ohio Valley receives funding from external organizations such as West Virginia Birth to Three and are awaiting more information on how the freeze will impact their funding.

United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley works with more than 80 programs across the Mid-Ohio Valley and according to Executive Director Stacy DeCicco, their office spent Tuesday doing their best to research what the changes could mean for those programs. DeCicco was hopeful to quell the community panic surrounding the uncertainty and encouraged flexibility of the community.

“It’s very much a wait and see at this point. I don’t think that any of us know where this is really going to land.” she said. “In the world of non-profit space funding streams are never permanent situations, so we always have to be ready to pivot and modify and reprioritize.”

DeCicco said the United Way also received questions from the community regarding government assistance like SNAP benefits. She said the United Way has no reason to believe that should be an issue for the community and ensured that in the event of benefits not longer being accessible or if there are needs for other community resources that the United Way is committed to bridging any gaps. For more information call 211 to get connected to community resources.

Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce said he couldn’t offer more than speculation on the potential effects but noted the city receives federal money primarily through Community Development Block Grant and HOME funds, as well as some Justice Assistance Grants that support law enforcement.

“Our operations aren’t contingent on any of those funds, so I don’t see any immediate impact,” he said.

Joyce said information he received from U.S. Rep. Riley Moore’s office indicates the pause should only last a couple of weeks and CDBG money likely will be unaffected. He said there are some positions whose salaries come from CDBG funds that the city might have to pay up front, but that’s how they usually operate anyway.

Wood County Commission President Blair Couch said he’s not sure of the impact but he doesn’t expect any major changes, at least not in this fiscal year.

“It’s going to be interesting to see what the effect is,” he said.

Washington County Commissioner James Booth said county officials were “scrambling to find out” what the order meant Tuesday morning. He said he received some clarity Tuesday afternoon in the form of correspondence from Sunday Creek Horizons, a firm retained by the county to monitor federal and state issues.

That group shared a memo from the OMB that said the order “should not be interpreted as a freeze on all federal funding — only pauses on funding related to ‘ending DEI, the green new deal and funding NGOs that undermine the national interest.'”

Those priorities were set forth throughout Trump’s campaign, Booth said. The correspondence emphasized the pause would not apply to Medicaid, SNAP, Pell Grants, Headstart and other programs that provide “direct benefits to Americans.”

“It could affect future spending and future awards,” Booth said. “This is a whole new administration, and we’re all learning as we go.”

City Editor Evan Bevins contributed to this article.