January 11, 2018

HUD: Record $2 Billion Awarded to Thousands of Local Homeless Assistance Programs Across U.S.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded a record $2 billion to support more than 7,300 local homeless assistance programs across the nation. HUD’s Continuum of Care grants provide critically needed support to local programs on the front lines of serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness. View a complete list of all the state and local homeless projects awarded funding.

Due to the last year’s devastating hurricanes, HUD extended the application deadline for communities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands until February 16, 2018.

HUD continues to challenge state and local planning organizations called “Continuums of Care” to support their highest performing local programs that have proven most effective in meeting the needs of persons experiencing homelessness in their communities. Many of these state and local planners also embraced HUD’s call to shift funds from existing underperforming projects to create new ones that are based on best practices that will further their efforts to prevent and end homelessness.

“HUD stands with our local partners who are working each and every day to house and serve our most vulnerable neighbors,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “We know how to end homelessness and it starts with embracing a housing-first approach that relies upon proven strategies that offer permanent housing solutions to those who may otherwise be living in our shelters and on our streets.”

Matthew Doherty, Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness added, “Continuums of Care are critical leaders in the work to end homelessness nationwide. When communities marshal these–and other local, state, private, and philanthropic resources–behind the strongest housing-first practices, we see important progress in our collective goal to end homelessness in America.”

HUD Continuum of Care grant funding supports a broad array of interventions designed to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness, particularly those living in places not meant for habitation, located in sheltering programs, or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. Each year, HUD serves more than a million people through emergency shelter, transitional, and permanent housing programs.

Last month, HUD reported homelessness crept up in the U.S., especially among individuals experiencing long-term chronic homelessness. HUD’s 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress found that 553,742 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2017, an increase of .7 percent since last year. Homelessness among families with children declined 5.4 percent nationwide since 2016, local communities report the number of persons experiencing long-term chronic homelessness and Veterans increased. HUD’s 2017 homeless estimate points to a significant increase in the number of reported persons experiencing unsheltered homelessness, particularly in California and other high-cost rental markets experiencing a significant shortage of affordable housing.

State Number of Local Programs Funded Total Awarded
Alabama 59 $17,752,162
Alaska 23 $3,731,246
Arizona 96 $38,526,473
Arkansas 26 $4,268,229
California 900 $382,566,777
Colorado 68 $30,590,720
Connecticut 147 $45,869,536
Delaware 31 $7,952,480
District of Columbia 50 $22,090,633
Florida 327 $83,226,614
Georgia 185 $41,017,540
Guam 7 $1,095,776
Hawaii 35 $11,762,496
Idaho 28 $3,717,376
Illinois 418 $109,110,715
Indiana 95 $19,300,787
Iowa 52 $9,108,676
Kansas 48 $7,835,720
Kentucky 105 $19,389,282
Louisiana 151 $46,623,544
Maine 39 $12,932,975
Maryland 185 $50,221,552
Massachusetts 275 $73,552,552
Michigan 296 $70,250,446
Minnesota 217 $33,094,266
Mississippi 27 $5,026,382
Missouri 145 $35,698,886
Montana 17 $2,500,597
Nebraska 50 $9,050,905
Nevada 49 $15,864,846
New Hampshire 63 $7,253,904
New Jersey 248 $45,902,844
New Mexico 59 $10,728,359
New York 579 $200,807,611
North Carolina 157 $25,573,629
North Dakota 18 $1,802,967
Ohio 316 $95,840,276
Oklahoma 67 $8,123,906
Oregon 128 $36,277,567
Pennsylvania 519 $102,583,484
Rhode Island 38 $5,796,184
South Carolina 59 $9,954,311
South Dakota 10 $1,294,469
Tennessee 128 $20,733,768
Texas 205 $88,239,025
Utah 55 $10,381,345
Vermont 22 $4,632,864
Virginia 152 $29,765,050
Washington 191 $59,556,796
West Virginia 63 $8,327,359
Wisconsin 95 $23,750,589
Wyoming 5 $292,329
Total 7328 $2,011,348,825

 

This post was originally published here.