Organizations in Missouri will receive over $57 million in federal funding for homelessness assistance, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The funding is divided among regions in the state called Continuums of Care, with the Continuum of Care that includes mid-Missouri receiving more than $10 million in funding overall. Categories range from shelter care to crisis response teams.
The Columbia Housing Authority is among the projects getting assistance, receiving $537,433 in federal funding.
The HUD announced on Friday nearly $3.6 billion in Continuum of Care (CoC) program awards for nearly 7,000 projects across the country that provide housing assistance and support services to people experiencing homelessness. The funding also covers costs related to planning and data collection.
Over $103 million in funds went to states in the HUD's Great Plains region, which covers Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
HUD's CoC Program is the largest source of federal grant funding for homeless services and housing programs, according to a news release. Nearly 400 CoC communities applied, and HUD funded nearly 7,000 homelessness services and housing projects operated by nonprofit providers, states, tribally designated housing entities and local governments.
In addition, HUD has introduced a new two-year CoC Program Notice of Funding Opportunity. Communities now only need to submit one CoC application, which HUD will use to award funding for FY 2024 and FY 2025, according to the news release. This change reduces the administrative workload for applicants.
The department also applied a cost-of-living adjustment to allow CoC budgets to better keep up with rising costs, according to the news release. This provides additional pay and support for direct service staff that support service delivery for people experiencing homelessness.
According to the news release, the awards announced Friday include explicit funding for youth and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Included in the awards is $189 million to renew and replace expiring Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program grants and $62 million for new re-housing, support services and other activities critical to assisting survivors.
