HUD Awards $4.3M To Spokane For People Experiencing Homelessness

Spokane WA

23 March, 2022

9:25 AM

Description

Press release from the City of Spokane: 2022-03-22 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced $4,333,859 in Continuum of Care Competition Awards for Spokane area homeless housing and service programs. The federal grants will provide funding to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing with access to supportive services, with the goal of long-term stability. "These funds are deeply appreciated and go a long way toward assisting regional partners in the fight against homelessness," said Jenn Cerecedes, Director of the City's Community Housing and Human Services Department, which applied for the funding last fall on behalf of the regional Continuum of Care. HUD Regional Administrator Margaret Solle Salazar said HUD is proud to support its Inland Northwest partners that are making an impact to reduce homelessness. "These resources will open the doors to long-term housing stability for families in our region and will help build an equitable recovery from this time of crisis," Salazar said. The CoC program is designed to promote a community-wide commitment to ending homelessness. The program is the largest source of federal grant funding for homeless services and housing programs servicing people experiencing homelessness. The awards include funds for domestic violence support projects. They also feature projects that focus on adding permanent housing to communities, including permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing and projects that provide transitional housing to households. A breakdown of the award totals for the Spokane area by sub-recipient is as follows: Volunteers of America, $1,539,214; Catholic Charities, $1,447,301; YWCA, $663,967; City of Spokane, $418,456; and SNAP, $264,921. HUD last August issued the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the CoC Competition Awards. Specifically, HUD sought projects that: End homelessness for all persons experiencing homelessness; Use a Housing First approach; Reduce unsheltered homelessness and reduce the criminalization of homelessness; Improve system performance; Partner with housing and health agencies, including to leverage and coordinate American Rescue Plan resources; Advance racial equity and addressing racial disparities in homelessness; and Engage people with lived experience of homelessness in decision-making. For more information on the funds, visit the HUD website or contact Vanessa Krueger, Region X Public Affairs Officer, [email protected], at 206-220-5289. This press release was produced by the City of Spokane. The views expressed here are the author's own.