This homeless man between 2019 and early 2020 lived out of a shopping cart behind Sunny Isle on St. Croix. Photo Credit: KAREEM ALEXANDER FOR VI CONSORTIUM
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday awarded $2.5 billion to renew support to thousands of local homeless assistance programs across the nation — including $206,369 for the U.S. Virgin Islands. HUD's Continuum of Care (CoC) grants will provide critically needed support to 6,597 local programs on the front lines of serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
Due to the pandemic, the funding announced Wednesday renews grants for existing programs. This process was dramatically streamlined because communities have been and will continue to be consumed with Covid-19 response and have limited capacity to participate in the traditional CoC competition, HUD said.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, $68,474 was provided to the Methodist Training and Outreach Center, Inc. (VI-HMIS Homeless Management Information System); $61,154 was provided to the Methodist Training and Outreach Center's permanent housing program; $44,832 was provided to the V.I. Dept. of Human Services' for D.H.S.'s PHB renewal; and $31,909 was provided to the V.I. Housing Finance Authority for the VI-500 CoC Planning Project Application 2020.
"The CoC program provides critically needed support to local programs on the front lines of serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness," said Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett in a release Wednesday.
Acting HUD Secretary Matt Ammon, said, “HUD wants to ensure that thousands of local homeless assistance providers continue to receive federal funds needed to provide stable housing for people experiencing homelessness during these trying times. Renewing these grants not only offers relief to our local partners but it allows Continuums of Care to continue their work to end homelessness and help keep our most vulnerable neighbors off the streets.”
James Arthur Jemison, principal deputy assistant secretary for community planning and development, stated, "We are excited about the opportunity to provide funding without diverting the attention of communities from the vital work of preventing, preparing for, and responding to the pandemic."
HUD said its Continuum of Care grant funding supports a broad array of interventions designed to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness, particularly those living in places not meant for habitation, located in sheltering programs, or at imminent risk of experiencing homelessness. Each year, HUD serves more than a million people through emergency shelter, transitional, and permanent housing programs.
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