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Source: The Record, Stockton, Calif.存倉Oct. 05--STOCKTON -- The federal government shutdown hit San Joaquin County on Friday when funding froze for Women's Center-Youth & Family Services."How do you stop 24-hour services that are so critical to people?" asked Joelle Gomez, chief executive officer for the agency that offers services to thousands of people countywide and provides shelter for hundreds more. "How do you turn away people in crisis?"Tempers flared in Washington on Friday as any hope of swiftly ending the partial shutdown evaporated. The political impasse entered its fifth day today.Gomez estimated that about 55 percent of the Women's Center-Youth & Family Services funding is connected to the federal government.Her organization provides shelter for more than 750 women, children and teenagers each year. Thousands more access services ranging from youth outreach and parenting classes to family therapy and support groups. More than 350 homeless youths and victims of domestic violence and sexual assault call the agency's 24-hour crisis lines each month; 100 people receive counseling and other supportive services weekly."I started receiving notices the last two days from state coalitions telling me that funding would be frozen effective Friday," Gomez said.Money that comes from state and county sources also is tied to federal allocations."The majority of our programs have support from federal money," she said.Andy Prokop, president and CEO of United Way of San Joaquin, worried about a broader ripple effect of the government shutdown."This is a problem ... that once again has 儲存eared its ugly head," Prokop said. "Any form of government funding that our local nonprofits were once able to seek and get has all but dried up."It is time for our local citizens to once again step up and rise to the occasion and make donations to these agencies, starting with the Women's Center right now."Women's Center-Youth & Family Services has 11 program sites in the county and a staff of 76. It has an annual budget of $4.2 million.The notices received by Gomez involve federal and state funding that will cease on existing grant contracts. The money, she said, is essential to keeping program sites running and public services operating."The impact is everywhere and with everything," she said. "All of our programs are partially funded through the federal government."She encouraged the local agency's supporters and donors to renew their gifts.Gomez said previously planned budget contingencies will keep operations fairly normal through the next week or two. After that, "it becomes a crisis; it's really unnerving. We'll have to freeze things or stop taking in new clients."Prokop saw irony in the timing of the federal shutdown."There is more need than at any time in our history," he said. "More domestic violence, more homelessness, more hunger and more needs for abused children."We can't wait for the government to do this. We need to do it ourselves."Contact reporter Kevin Parrish at (209) 546-8264 or kparrish@recordnet.com.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Record (Stockton, Calif.) Visit The Record (Stockton, Calif.) at .recordnet.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage