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.
