PENDLETON — After a sudden pause on federal grant funding per a memo from the White House, local nonprofit organizations in Eastern Oregon already are feeling the effects.

Pendleton Children’s Center, an early childhood education and care nonprofit, could not access its approved $1.5 million grant funding. According to Kathryn Brown, secretary-treasurer, the center needs to draw $600,000 from the grant to, combined with some other funding, purchase a neighboring building on Southwest Frazer Avenue to expand its childcare capacity.

The White House announced the freeze Monday night, Jan. 27, in a two-page memo distributed to federal offices, according to national news reports. On Jan. 28, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s order temporarily, The New York Times reported, with a more permanent decision coming Feb. 3.

For Pendleton Children’s Center, it’s not clear what the temporary decision means. Brown said she doesn’t know whether funds will be available during the temporary block. And even if they are, that might not be enough to move forward with the building purchase. The center won’t want to buy a building if funds to renovate it and use it for childcare aren’t guaranteed.

“We really need to be assured that all this grant funding is going to truly be available to us before we move forward with the acquisition,” Brown said. “If the remainder of our grant funds are not available, then we would be unable to expand and it would be a liability for the nonprofit to have an unfinished project.”

Brown said the money she’s requesting for the building purchase is part of a grant Congress approved during the last budget cycle — a Department of Housing and Urban Development Economic Development Initiative, Community Project Funding grant.

The owner of the building originally gave the center until Jan. 31 to close on the sale. Despite the request being filed correctly to the federal offices, Brown said, she was told last week by grant officers there was a glitch in the system. She couldn’t get the needed funds transferred to the center’s bank account from the government, a process that generally takes about three business days.

On Jan. 27, the last day to withdraw funds in time for the Jan. 31 deadline, the officers told her the issue was ongoing. It was happening with funds allocated to other areas, too, they said. Brown said the officers didn’t seem to know anything about the funding freeze on Monday afternoon when she talked to them.

She hadn’t heard any updates regarding the center’s funding as of 4 p.m. Jan. 28. She did say the building owner may be willing to extend the deadline due to the lack of funding being out of her control.

Although the center’s expansion is uncertain, Brown emphasized the work will go on.

“While this is a disappointment,” she said, “we are continuing our child care operations in our current building and we’re hoping that we will have an opportunity to access all our grant funds and expand.”