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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Grants focus on support, services for chronically homeless

By , Columbian staff writer
Published:

Federal funding of $1.25 million means that nonprofit agencies in Clark County will be able to continue housing and helping chronically homeless people here.

On Monday the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a total of $1.81 billion for more than 8,400 homeless projects nationwide — most of them grant renewals for existing, ongoing projects. A total of $48.2 million was awarded in Washington state.

Andy Silver, the executive director of the Council for the Homeless in Clark County, and Bunk Moren, the executive director of Community Services NW, both said the money represents the federal government’s increasing emphasis on permanent, supportive housing for the chronically homeless. It provides for rental subsidies and — depending on the particular program — case management and other services for people who need them. Public dollars from other sources generally underwrite other sorts of homeless services, Silver said.

Silver said communities of sufficient size annually apply to HUD with a coordinated grant application that demonstrates how various agencies are working together as a “community of care.” In recent years Clark County has scored well on this, he said.

In all, Community Services NW will receive $430,179 for four related programs that all serve chronically homeless people; some are disabled or mentally ill; some have experienced multiple episodes of homelessness; some are addicted and some are also diagnosed as “chronic public inebriates,” according to the agency’s website. Many of them are emerging from jail, Moren said. The Community Services NW programs all aim to provide subsidies for apartments on the private market and offer optional, additional “wraparound” services such as mental health counseling and other case management.

Share Vancouver will receive $314,176 for similar housing programs; Second Step Housing will receive $270,439; and Impact NW, based in Portland, will receive $150,119 for its Clark County efforts.

The Council for the Homeless, which submitted the coordinated grant, gets $89,000 for planning and data tracking.

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