Mr. Trump, who wants to build a wall on the border with Mexico and increase defense spending, has said
that the grant program is “not well targeted to the poorest populations and has not demonstrated results.”  
Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who specializes in welfare
and poverty, called the program a “model of inefficiency.”
“The program is largely a slush fund for large urban cities,” Mr. Rector said.
Now, Ms. Rodriguez and a local group advocating water improvements are pushing to connect the community to fresh surface
water about four miles away, tapping a federal funding source called the Community Development Block Grant program.
But with $3 million from the Community Development Block Grant program, the county is planning to convert an old machine shop into a 50-bed permanent shelter
that will also feature a service center to help residents and others escape homelessness, said James Rydingsword, the director of the county’s Health and Human Services Agency.