Locals facing homelessness because of recent economic hardship are set to receive a boost from President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
On Feb. 25, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocated more than $10 billion to HUD programs throughout the country.
According to the HUD website, hud.gov, approximately $1.5 billion of that money have been channeled into the HUD Homelessness Prevention Fund. The fund will allow state and local governments to rapidly re-house individuals and families entering homeless shelters. The money will also be used to prevent homelessness among people facing sudden economic crises.
HUD awarded approximately $829,000 in homelessness prevention grant money to Santa Barbara County, and Santa Maria received nearly $522,000 in funds.
Funds awarded to the county will be disbursed through the Housing and Community Development Department, as well as Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services and the County Executive Office.
Money will go toward providing housing-related services, including short-term rental assistance, housing relocation and moving cost assistance, credit counseling, and case management. The funds, however, aren’t intended for emergency sheltering or foreclosure assistance services.
In an e-mail to the Sun, the county’s Housing and Community Development Director John Torell said the department plans to award the funds to eligible grantees through a public process.
Torell added that department staff members are in the process of evaluating HUD’s recommended policies and procedures for distributing the homelessness prevention funds.
For more information, visit the Housing and Community Development website at countyofsb.org/housing.
This article appears in Mar 5-12, 2009.