A South Bay community clinic is scrambling to secure alternative funding after federal grant cuts slashed more than $400,000 from a vital housing program, leaving 40 vulnerable patients at risk of losing their homes.

Bay Area Community Health, which operates clinics from Hayward to Gilroy, recently learned that its annual funding for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program has dried up.

Dr. Zettie Page, president and CEO of BACH, said the clinic only found out about the cuts a week ago. Noting that the health centers primarily serve uninsured, underinsured, and special populations cycling in and out of employment, Page emphasized that stable housing is a vital pillar of health care.

“Because our health centers really focus on uninsured and underinsured, and those who have neither, we really work to target those in special populations, and those who are in and out of employment,” Page said.

“We just became aware of this a week ago,” Page added. “So the what now is still on the table.”

The sudden funding cliff forced BACH to notify the 40 affected families that their housing subsidies will end on Oct. 30 — less than two weeks away. NBC Bay Area reporter Damian Trujillo noted that because these individuals are already in highly vulnerable situations, there are deep concerns they could end up on the streets.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan placed the blame squarely on federal decisions, sharply criticizing the cuts.

“Forty vulnerable people potentially right out on the streets,” Mahan said. “Medically vulnerable. They cannot work. They have life-altering medical conditions.”

“We need to shine a spotlight on the cruelty of the Trump administration’s policies,” Mahan added. “These are health care and housing cuts that are targeting the most vulnerable people.”

Mahan stated that the city cannot afford to backfill the $400,000 due to its own ongoing budget shortfalls. Instead, city leaders are actively engaging with the South Bay congressional delegation and hoping the county will release Measure A funds intended for emergencies of this scale.

“I think it’s irresponsible,” Mahan said. “I think it’s cruel, and this is what these policies look like in practice.”

NBC Bay Area reached out to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for comment but has not yet received a response. Meanwhile, BACH staff remain devastated, worried that the impacted families face severe uncertainty heading into the cold winter months and the holidays.