More than $860,000 has been distributed to eight Humboldt County homeless assistance programs to help keep people off the streets.
The funds are part of more than $415 million in Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance grants awarded this month to programs across the state by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Locally, grant renewals were awarded to Arcata House Partnership, 2-1-1 and the Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS). Each of these entities is a member of the Humboldt Housing and Homeless Coalition (HHHC).
Most of the $861,315 in local funding will be used for permanent supportive housing programs, which provide rental assistance and supportive services to chronically homeless people with one or more serious disabling conditions. Supportive services may include counseling, medication support, linkage to medical care, case management services, training in independent living skills, substance use disorder support and other services that can help a client maintain housing.
“This award from HUD to the HHHC goes directly to programs that provide services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in Humboldt County,” said Sally Hewitt, HHHC co-chair and DHHS senior program manager. “We will be able to continue providing services to youth and adults that have significant disabilities. This assistance helps participants pay rent and security deposits, provides safe transitional housing for youth and supports services for participants to promote housing stability.”
This year, Arcata House Partnership (AHP) received $448,780 from HUD for its permanent supportive housing programs.
“Arcata House Partnership is pleased that we can continue to provide housing vouchers and case management support for clients in our permanent supportive housing programs with this money,” said AHP Director Darlene Spoor. “This funding will ensure that people who have a low income will continue to be housed. AHP is committed to supporting the neediest people in our community.”
2-1-1 Humboldt received $31,549 to continue providing coordinated entry services which streamline the process of finding housing for chronically homeless people, focusing on housing the most vulnerable first.
DHHS received $213,067 for its permanent supportive housing program for chronically homeless people with serious mental illness. The department also received $82,388 for its HIV/AIDS Re-Housing Team—Project HART—for chronically homeless disabled people and/or families living with HIV/AIDS, and $69,500 to administer the countywide Homeless Management Information System database on behalf of the HHHC.
These annual HUD grants are awarded competitively to programs across the state and country to meet the needs of their homeless clients. The grants fund a wide variety of programs, from outreach and assessment to direct housing assistance and other activities for homeless people and families.
“The HHHC has received this funding every year since 2006,” Hewitt said. “Humboldt can be proud of its ongoing efforts to end homelessness.”
The HHHC is a coalition of housing advocates, businesses, funders, elected officials, services and housing providers, faith-based organizations and other community stakeholders working together to identify and address local housing needs. In Humboldt County, the HHHC is the lead organization for homeless issues and the federally designated Continuum of Care. For more information about the HHHC, visit its website at http://www.humboldthousing.org/.
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