Council backs plan to explore grant fund shift

Council for Human Services · Meeting of October 22, 2026

NANTUCKET — The Nantucket Council for Human Services voted 5-0 to let staff explore shifting unspent grant money into substance-misuse funding. Deputy Director of Health and Human Services Jerico Mele said requests for the substance-misuse grant pool total $232,000 against a $175,000 budget, while combined operational and program grant requests reached $934,975 against an $825,000 pool, up from $650,000 last year. Member Tara Restieri argued "there's no chance that most of these organizations don't actually need more funding" and pushed for better outreach to applicants.

The council also learned roughly $45,000 in prior-year grants went unspent after three agencies could not finalize contracts due to lost insurance, staff turnover and a housing issue. Interviews for the 19 grant applicants are set for November 13, with deliberations concluding November 20.

In the full story:

• Quorum and Routine Approvals
• Fiscal Year Grant Cycle Overview
• Proposal to Shift Human Services Funds to Substance Misuse
• Unspent $45,000 From Prior-Year Grants
• Cannabis Ballot Question and Funding Risk
• Grant Review Assignments and CRC Calendar
• Public Relations and Outreach Update
• Director's Report: Vaccine Clinics, Staffing, Tick-Borne Illness
• Childcare Subsidy Pilot and Head Start Advocacy
• CHS Member Announcements and Scheduling
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,492 words

Source: the Council for Human Services meeting of October 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.