SOMERVILLE-ARLINGTON CONTINUUM OF CARE AWARDED $2.3 MILLION GRANT FOR HOMELESS ASSISTANCE
City's Housing Division Dana LeWinter announce that the Somerville-Arlington
Continuum of Care, a collaborative planning body of local homeless providers
that coordinates housing and services for homeless families and individuals,
was awarded $2,334,299 in funding from the Department of Housing and Urban
Development for homeless assistance programs following the 2012 application
process. Additionally, the Continuum
filed a proposal for a new permanent housing program that would provide housing
and supportive services to ten
chronically homeless individuals. Those results are expected to be announced later this spring. The
Continuum was awarded $2,237,821 in 2011, $2,235,913 in 2010, $2,233, 788 in
2009 and $1.9 million in 2008.
Due to a highly
competitive grant process, program awards have been announced by Tiers. HUD
awarded $1.5 billion to Tier 1 projects in March of 2013, and $72 million to
Tier 2 projects in May of 2013. Tier two awards supported a wide range of
programs nationally, including street outreach, client assessment and direct
housing assistance.
"We are
extremely fortunate to continue to receive support from state and federal
leaders, like HUD, to provide necessary services to our residents, particularly
our most vulnerable populations, and that with a very competitive grant process
our Continuum of Care has again received the necessary funding to continue this
great work," said Mayor Curtatone.
The grant money provides permanent and transitional housing
to homeless persons, and also funds important case management and other
services that may include job training, money management training, health care,
mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment. Grants are awarded competitively to local
programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients. Providers receiving funding through the
Somerville-Arlington Continuum include the Somerville Homeless Coalition,
Heading Home, Just a Start Corporation, CASPAR, Wayside Youth and Family
Support Network, Somerville Community Corporation, and Catholic Charities.
"All of our agencies in Somerville working on homelessness
collaborate on this federal application together with the help and support of
the City. We are grateful that all of our programs received renewed funding;
this is our major source of funds to combat homelessness," said Mark
Alston-Follansbee, Executive Director of the Somerville Homeless Coalition. "While
we are thankful for these grants, we are also concerned about the federal
sequestration cuts that will take 5% from each one. We hope congress
understands that poor and homeless people have as much need for support as the
air traffic controllers that got their funding restored."
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