11 units will be available for homeless
The San Benito County Homeless Coalition will receive more than $200,000 from a federal grant to offer permanent housing for homeless residents and their families, according to an announcement from the organization.
Homeless Coalition board member Doug Emerson, Executive Director Cindy Parr and Enrique Arreola, the deputy director of San Benito County’s Community Services and Workforce Development office worked together on the application for the grant that will offer the first permanent housing for homeless residents in the county.
Parr said in January that the grant would allow the Homeless Coalition and CSWD to provide apartments to 11 families or individuals. She said she and Arreola would collaborate on setting up criteria for how the housing would be assigned. Currently in San Benito, there is a homeless shelter that runs from November through March for adults, and a winter shelter for families. Emmaus House also offers transitional living spaces for women and children who are leaving domestic abuse situations.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced grant awards totaling close to $38 million in California.
San Benito County and the local homeless coalition are set to receive $207,066, according to local leaders. Hollister Councilman Doug Emerson announced the local award by email on Tuesday and noted that the homeless organization would use the funds for a “permanent housing project.”
The HUD allocation comes on top of $1.47 billion recently given to renew funding at more than 7,100 existing homeless programs across the U.S, according to a press release from the federal agency.
The HUD announcement pointed out that the efforts are part of President Obama and his administration’s goal to prevent and end homelessess.
The funding provides critically needed emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent support for individuals and families and is a significant part of the Obama Administration’s strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness.
“Today’s grantees will join the tens of thousands of local programs that are on the front lines of helping those who might otherwise be living on our streets,” said U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan. “It’s incredible that as we work to recover from the greatest economic decline since the Great Depression, the total number of homeless Americans is declining, in large part because of these funds.”
The San Benito Homeless Coalition became available for the HUD emergency grants this year when they joined a Continuum of Care with Monterey County. The continuum of care is a consortium of nonprofits and government agencies working to end homelessness. The local Continuum of Care completed a 10-year plan to end homelessness last year, in which permanent housing was a focus.
