HUD AWARDS OVER $1.6 MILLION FOR CAPE AND ISLANDS HOMELESS PROGRAMS
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the 2015 Continuum of Care (CoC) competition funding awards. The Cape and Islands received $1,682,047 million dollars in funding to support twelve renewals programs that provide housing to over 140 formerly homeless individuals. The region also received grants to support CoC Planning and the Homeless Information Management System (HMIS). This year’s award is a 12% increase over last year’s CoC funding. A second round of CoC funding for new and tier two projects is expected to be announced in the near future.
This year’s grants are being awarded in the most competitive environment HUD has experienced in the Continuum of Care grant program. To compete most effectively, communities made very challenging decisions, often shifting funds from existing projects to create new ones that will have a more substantial and lasting impact on homeless populations.
Nationally, HUD provides $1.6 billion in grants to provide funding to 6,400 local homeless housing and service programs across the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. To view Massachusetts Homeless Assistance Awards visit “State and Local Homeless Projects Award Funding” (https://www.hudexchange.info/onecpd/assets/File/2015-massachusetts-coc-grants.pdf)
HUD estimates there were 564,708 persons experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2015. Since 2010 local communities around the country reported a declined by more than 72,000 persons, an 11 percent reduction. In addition, veteran homelessness fell by 36 percent, chronic homelessness declined 22 percent and between 2010 and January 2015, family homelessness declined by 19 percent, while the estimated number of unaccompanied homeless youth and children was 36,097.
On January 27, 2016 the Cape Cod and Islands CoC organized volunteers to help count the number of persons located in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs and living unsheltered on the streets. Barnstable County Department of Human Services which acts as the Collaborative Applicant for the Cape and Island’s CoC will report these one-night ‘point-in-time counts’ later in the spring.
For more information contact:
Elizabeth Albert, Director
508‐375‐6626
