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WNY organizations to receive money to fight homelessness

NFTA, Matt Urban Center hold drive for homeless
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Western New York is getting nearly $13.75 million dollars in federal grants to help fight homelessness in the community.

The money comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) program. The CoC program provides funding to nonprofits, State and local governments to help quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing any trauma and dislocation and optimizing self-sufficiency.

In addition to the CoC grant funding awarded by HUD, the Department has also made several Emergency Solutions Grants Program (ESG) awards to WNY municipalities. ESG program funds go to providing emergency shelters for homeless individuals and families and the operation of those shelters, as well as essential services for shelter residents and homelessness prevention programs.

More than a dozen different WNY organizations and municipalities will receive funding:

Organization/Project

Grant Amount

Continuum of Care Funding:

BestSelf

$436,235

Cazenovia Recovery Systems

$571,472

Community Missions of the Niagara Frontier

$297,241

Erie County Department of Mental Health

$5,457,365

Evergreen

$690,001

Gerard Place

$259,041

Hispanics United of Buffalo

$200,346

Housing Council at Pathstone

$229,693

Lt. Col. Matt Urban Human Services Center of WNY

$1,780,301

Restoration Society, Inc.

$755,818

Spectrum Chronic Homeless

$550,136

Compass House

$269,586

Homeless Alliance of WNY -Homeless Management Information System

$210,255

Homeless Alliance of WNY - Planning

$499,873


Emergency Solutions Grants:

City of Buffalo

$1,123,496

Erie County

$222,084

Niagara Falls

$196,629



TOTAL

$13,749,572


Many of these awards will provide for the renewal of existing successful programs. Portions of the funding will support a new projects including: a combined Transitional and Rapid Rehousing program through Compass House for youth ages 18-24, additional Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) beds through the Erie County Department of Mental Health for those facing substance abuse issues or those with mental or physical disabilities, as well as additional funding for Rapid Rehousing Program (RRH) assistance to those in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming Counties.

According to the Homeless Alliance of WNY “Point in Time” report, 957 people in the five WNY counties faced homelessness in 2018. HUD’s 2018 Homeless Assessment Report to Congress [hudexchange.info] found an estimated 553,000 people in the United States, including 164,023 individuals in families with children and 36,361 unaccompanied youth, experienced homelessness on any given night in America.