The Claremont city council approved funding for a number of local community-based organizations Tuesday and heard a report from the city arborist regarding removal of trees along Foothill Boulevard.

Fifteen organizations received $86,500 from general funds, while five organizations received $30,000 in available homeless services funds. The city is also continuing a practice initiated last year where $24,310 is set aside to fund its homeless services plan.

The annual awards give financial assistance to local nonprofits that offer services to Claremont residents and aid in the prevention of homelessness in the area, Human Services Director Anne Turner said during her presentation to the council. Organizations were chosen in public meetings of the community and human services commission.

A big portion of funding—$43,250—went to “new and emerging” applicants and programs, Ms. Turner said. Those applicants include familiar names, such as Ophelia’s Jump, AbilityFirst and the Claremont Museum of Art.

A snapshot of agencies and programs funded for this fiscal year include $15,000 for the Claremont After School Programs (CLASP); $7,000 for the Claremont Museum of Art’s Project ARTstART; $5,200 for the Community Senior Services’ Family Caregiver Support program; $5,000 for Shoes That Fit’s emergency warehouse program; and $9,000 for Sustainable Claremont’s Green Crew Urban Forestry program.

For homeless services, the Claremont Homeless Advocacy Program (CHAP) received $8,000, Crossroads received $7,000 for their women’s re-entry program, Foothill Family Shelter received $3,000 for their Stepping Stones 120-day housing program, Inland Valley Council of Churches received a total of $9,000 for their food security program and residential family emergency housing program.

During public comment, David Shearer of Claremont Heritage thanked the commission for giving $2,500 toward Heritage’s third-grade local history program.

“It’s an important initiative,” he said. “The grant funding we get from the CBO covers about a third of what our actual costs are, so we really appreciate that and we want to continue to do it for years to come.”

Councilmember Jed Leano, a former community and human services commissioner himself, noted that he hadn’t seen as much money allocated for new programs when he was on the commission.

“And to see now we’re allocating over $40,000 for new programs, developed by local organizations, this is really promising,” Mr. Leano said.