Latest news with #ContinuumofCare
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
New Haven officials mark start of deal at Continuum of Care with ribbon cutting
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — More than a hundred clients of Continuum of Care will be able to keep living right where they have been for years. That, despite their landlord looking to sell to an out-of-state developer. Friday morning, New Haven officials cut the ribbon marking the start of a new deal for Continuum. Connecticut Job Corps centers to pause operations in June Most ribbon cuttings mean big changes are coming. This one was designed to keep things mostly the same. At one apartment complex on Ella Grasso Boulevard and another one on Blake Street, more than 100 people and families rent apartments with the help of the Continuum of Care. Continuum helps folks dealing with mental health, developmental, and addiction issues, and the homelessness that often goes with them. 'Continuum offers a full array of services for individuals, including crisis stabilization, residential treatment, supervised apartments, supportive housing,' Jim Farrales, the President & CEO of Continuum of Care, said. The landlord who had been renting all those apartments to Continuum clients for all those years told Continuum they were looking to sell. A buyer from New York was interested. Continuum knew that meant the new landlord was probably going to jack up the rents. So, the continuum went to local officials, who worked with the State Department of Housing and the Department of Economic and Community Development. DECD has something called the Community Investment Fund 'It's not just for economic development projects,' Deputy Commissioner Matthew Pugliese of the Department of Economic and Community Development, said. 'It's for projects in communities that are going to help support the people that are underserved in those communities.' That money, along with other public and private funding, helped Continuum buy the two apartment complexes. That means all those people and families can stay right where they are, in apartments they can afford, with case workers on site to help them stay on track. 'This supportive housing model is designed to help individuals have the support they need to successfully live full lives here in the community,' Continuum's Farrales said. Some things will actually change. Continuum plans to upgrade and renovate many of the units. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Spokane County, two largest cities agree to share data, coordinate on homelessness response
May 25—The Inland Northwest took a step towards a regional, coordinated response to homelessness this week, although not to the lengths advocates once hoped. Spokane County and the cities of Spokane and Spokane Valley have signed on to an interlocal agreement to work together on the state's housing and homelessness crisis. The agreement ensures coordinated data sharing, award granting, extreme weather responses and development planning. Spokane Valley Mayor Pam Haley said the collaboration should help the region combat homelessness more efficiently and help people achieve better and lasting outcomes. "Addressing homelessness cannot be tackled alone by any single jurisdiction," Haley said. "This collaboration will allow us to pool our resources to coordinate planning efforts, establish priority interventions to meet the needs of our community, and jointly evaluate the performance of providers to maximize the regional funds dedicated to homelessness." The agreement is the first major step towards the regional approach to homelessness posited by local leaders a few years ago. But it's not the regional authority composed of government officials, service providers, business leaders and subject matter experts explored while former Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward was in office, and that appeared to lose steam over the competing interests and personalities involved, and a wave of new leaders put in office during the 2023 election cycle. "By continuing to collaborate, we can make more efficient use of public dollars and improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness in our communities," Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said in a written statement. State law requires counties in Washington to adopt a five-year homeless housing plan consistent with guidelines laid out by the state Department of Commerce, and to provide regular updates through annual progress reports on those plans. The city of Spokane is also required to adopt a strategy as it administers state and federal housing funds. The Valley administers only a fraction of the funding Spokane and the county do, but is included in the region's Continuum of Care 2025-30 Five-Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. George Dahl, Spokane County's housing and community development administrator, said the interlocal agreement is predicated on the five-year plan, ensuring collaboration as each government body works to meet its objectives. Dahl told the commissioners it replaces a 2012 contract between the county and the city of Spokane for homelessness data sharing. "This interlocal really spells out that we will coordinate, collaborate and work well together, whether I'm in the seat three years from now, or if my counterparts of the city or the Valley are there," Dahl said. In addition to sharing data, coordinating inclement weather and emergency shelter responses and having housing and support services staff meet regularly, the three jurisdictions have agreed to coordinate on how they distribute funding for housing and homeless services projects in the region. Spokane Valley City Services Administrator Gloria Mantz said contract requirements and performance measures will also be more consistent between the three when awarding funding. "There are very limited dollars for these purposes, and we can only expect that we're going to see a reduction in the near future with what's happening at the federal level," Mantz said. "So it's very important you know that we pick the best qualified and that they adhere to the contract requirements and that they're meeting those performance measures."
Hamilton Spectator
23-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
County disperses $7 million to municipalities for affordable housing
COUNTY OF WELLINGTON –Some feel that giving local municipalities funds to address the affordable housing gap in the community might be more of a curse than a blessing. Following staff recommendations at an Administration, Finance and Human Resources Committee Tuesday afternoon, councillors narrowly approved dividing the approximately $7 million previously raised for the recently-cancelled Continuum of Care project between all of the municipalities of Wellington County. The City of Guelph is not receiving funds. According to CAO Scott Wilson, each local municipality is eligible for up to $1,000,000 to develop housing to address the availability gap between low-end market housing and subsidized housing, as determined by each local municipal council. The project must have all local permissions in place by Dec. 31, 2027, or the funds will be forfeited. This follows Coun. Andy Lennox requesting a comprehensive assessment of the affordable housing proposals already presented to the county's Attainable Housing Taskforce Working Group. Proposing a deferral, Lennox was concerned that the recommendation delegates responsibility down to local municipalities 'with no care or concern about their ability to deliver on this.' The deferral failed 3:2 (for: Warden Chris White, Coun. James Seeley and Coun. Earl Campbell, against: Coun. Diane Ballantyne, Coun. Andy Lennox) Lennox later asked for a community scan of who might be able to deliver or partner with the County of Wellington, as was originally proposed, to ensure they have enough information to ensure the plan isn't a failure. 'I don't want to put a fund together, say we're going to pass this off to the local municipalities and they don't have the capacity to do it. That's setting ourselves up for failure ... I think we're just fooling ourselves if we're going to put this money out there and not try and ensure that it's going to deliver on the result that we want,' said Lennox. Agreeing with Lennox, Coun. Diane Ballantyne said she's unsure how helpful it would be for every municipality to get $1 million since some have smaller populations and tax contributions. Talking about equity versus equality, Ballantyne also questioned why staff didn't recommend pursuing one of the four alternate housing development models presented in the report. The models included were: 'The demand for affordable housing, while it exists everywhere, is going to be more acute in some areas as opposed to others,' said Ballantyne. 'I question the cookie-cutter approach to the $1 million to each municipality.' Warden Chris White said the money is meant to be a starting point, and they didn't provide recommendations because they wanted to give each municipality the freedom to meet their individual needs. 'I didn't want something too restrictive, it's essentially wide open,' said Wilson. 'Whatever a municipality wants to pursue is permitted ... it (the report) is not designed to support any model in particular.' Supporting the recommendations, Coun. James Seeley shared concerns about the 'very tight' timeline and asked whether staff could soften the deadlines to give developers more wiggle room if necessary approvals slow a project down. Wilson disagreed, arguing that extensions are too much and he'd prefer a solid deadline because it puts pressure on developers to get something done and gives staff some assurance. 'That's over two years to get that all in line,' said Wilson. 'We're trying to do something reasonably quickly because of the urgency of providing housing. I would think it'd be all hands to the pump and everybody would work together to get that done.' Commenting that they're on the right track, Coun. Campbell Cork said he was disappointed to see the inclusion of affordable rentals in the report, asking for more emphasis on homeownership because that's where he sees the gap. 'I think the concept of getting equity in your living place or your home is the key to it being successful,' said Cork. 'I would've been thrilled to see a model that said 100 per cent homeownership as the end goal of it all.' Sharing some of Cork's concerns about the inclusion of affordable rentals in a plan focused on attainable housing, Coun. Matthew Bulmer suggested a density target. 'We all talk about wanting to improve affordability,' said Bulmer. 'The cases we've reviewed identified that increasing density is key to driving affordability.' Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Nevada homelessness, housing crisis will only get worse under Trump budget plans, providers warn
Trump and Republicans propose to reduce HUD's budget by more than 40% amid a national housing and homeless crisis. (Getty Images) Federal spending cuts proposed by President Donald Trump, including $33 billion from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, would be devastating to Nevada, social services providers and local officials warn. 'Prior to these proposed cuts, our social safety net was not overly strong,' said Catrina Peters, the Homeless Services Coordinator with Washoe County. Cuts planned by the administration will 'reduce it to tatters.' Trump's budget requests are shaping legislation in the works by House Republicans that will slash Medicaid and food assistance programs in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' Congress is trying, with some difficulty, to pass. Assuming the bill makes it out of the House, Senate Republicans will attempt to pass it through the budget reconciliation process, which allows them to approve the bill with only a simple majority and circumvent Senate filibuster rules. The proposal would reduce HUD's budget by more than 40% amid a national housing and homeless crisis. Many social service agencies and nonprofits, including HELP of Southern Nevada, rely on federal funding to supplement their budget and provide needed services. HELP, one of the nonprofit organizations Clark County relies on to administer homeless support programs, receives roughly $10 million of its $30 million budget from HUD, said Fuilala Riley, the CEO of HELP of Southern Nevada. The nonprofit has been able to use federal dollars to fund permanent supportive housing, which is subsidized for populations with significantly low or no income, such as folks experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, and comes with case management and wrap-around support services. 'This morning, 800 people woke up in a HELP of Southern Nevada program bed,' Riley said in an interview this month. 'Half of those individuals are funded by federal funds.' For every one person that asked for assistance to be connected to a program, 'there's probably 10 other ones that are out in the community,' who need help, she said. 'The outlook is bleak because before we couldn't answer all the requests,' Riley said. 'Now we are facing a significant possibility that 30% of our funding will go away.' The list of proposed cuts to HUD funding nationally includes a $532 million decrease in homeless assistance programs and a consolidation of several grants, like those provided by the federal Continuum of Care program that states use to address homelessness. Clark County received about $21 million in funding from the Continuum of Care program in 2024 while Washoe County is allocated roughly $3.2 million. Last year Clark County directed funding from the Continuum of Care program to support permanent supportive housing programs, rapid rehousing programs and transitional housing beds provided by the Clark County Social Service Dept. as well as nonprofits, including HELP of Southern Nevada, St. Jude's Ranch for Children, Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth and Safe Nest. Riley said HELP received about $7 million last fiscal year specifically from the Continuum of Care program. 'There's no way I can backstop $7 million in private funding on an ongoing basis' if she were to lose it or have it drastically reduced, she said. Peters said in Washoe County the majority of the funding is used by agencies to provide rental assistance and supportive services for people experiencing homelessness. The curtailment of vouchers for renters in particular 'would have an absolutely devastating impact,' Peters said. The federal budget proposed by Trump would also reduce the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which provides state and local governments with funding to expand the supply of housing, by $1.2 billion, and cut $196 million from programs to help housing assistance recipients become more self-sufficient. Clark County allocated about $9 million in HOME funds it received last year to 'support the development or rehab 1,018 affordable housing units across the county.' Federal funding directed to nonprofits works in coordination with the resources they provide to create a fragile ecosystem. Organizations and providers get allocated federal funding and use it to address specific programs or problems in the community. If HELP, for example, doesn't offer a particular resource or service, it will refer to another nonprofit that does. 'When you start pulling out the blocks, it's like playing Jenga,' Peters said. 'Eventually it's going to topple over. That's a concern for all.' Trump's budget request would also slash public housing assistance such as Housing Choice Vouchers, formerly known as Section 8. While Washoe County isn't the only entity that allocates housing vouchers, Peters said starting in 2021 the county received 137 emergency housing vouchers designed specifically to pay rent for people and families at risk or experiencing homelessness. The program could also be at risk if the proposed cuts go through as currently written. 'All the people in that program were previously experiencing homelessness,' Peters said. 'The vast majority of those folks would return to homelessness if it were not for these voucher resources.' Federal funding provided in pandemic relief legislation helped governments and nonprofits alike keep people housed, offer food assistance, and keep the safety net from collapsing. Now those funding streams are all but dried up. And even that funding could only go so far to stabilize people. Rents across Nevada, as in much of the country, have skyrocketed and the state has a shortage of affordable and available housing. Combine increased rents with other rising costs of living, and '$12 and $14 an hour, that doesn't cut it,' Riley said. More than 10,100 people experienced homelessness in Nevada in 2024 – a 17% increase statewide – according to data released by HUD in December. 'If these proposed cuts go through, it's going to be very difficult to sustain' the work that's being done to help unhoused people, Peters said. 'I think we're going to see a huge influx in the number of people experiencing homelessness.' Close to a third of all state government spending in Nevada is made possible by federal funding. 'It takes all the revenue streams of public and private dollars to meet the needs of our community,' said Sam Rudd, President and CEO of United Way of Southern Nevada. 'It's a very daunting reality.' There are a lot of factors that make it 'impossible to specifically state' the impact of federal cuts 'without knowing what the final decisions are from the state support,' Rudd said in an interview. 'Many times there are federal cuts that then get stopped or are in legal battles and there is a lot of unknown,' he said. While it might be hard to quantify the impact, there is no doubt that everyone in the community will feel the cuts. 'A lot of people see a headline, read an article and think that doesn't impact me,' Rudd said. 'But it does impact this community and it will begin to create a potential unraveling of issues I don't know we can quantify.' Nonprofits have already had some funding sources paused, including $1.2 million in Emergency Food and Shelter funds, which helps supplement various existing programs, Rudd said. 'That's going to impact about 125,000 Clark County residents in that specific area,' he said. 'They've already felt that impact. The funding was supposed to come through April … Not only are they not getting reimbursed for funds spent earlier this year, nonprofits have to put a hold on future expenditures' that would have been paid with that money. While HELP has yet to suffer funding cuts directly, 'we all understand the impact of the trickle effect of all these changes, including potential state challenges, and how the needs of our community are going to increase which will then trickle into other services,' Rudd said. The proposed federal cuts come amid projections of a slowing economy that prompted Nevada budget analysts to reduce the state's revenue outlook over the next two fiscal years by $191 million. Need for eviction assistance 'is only going to get greater,' state lawmaker warns Along with federal funds, municipalities and nonprofits have relied on state funds to provide resources, including rental assistance to prevent evictions. State lawmakers allocated $18 million in rental assistance in 2023 to Clark County and Reno to help continue eviction diversion programs set up during the pandemic. Assembly Bill 475 seeks to appropriate $25 million in eviction diversion rental assistance funds — $18 million to Clark County and $7 million to Reno. It has yet to be voted on but has been declared exempt from legislative deadlines. 'So many folks in our community have a broken down car or a major medical expense from not being able to make rent and being evicted,' Peters said. 'Unfortunately most of those folks we see in our emergency shelter system and we would love to be able to provide more proactive solutions like providing rental assistance to keep people stably housed.' Even if people don't feel the impact of reduced state and federal funding that addresses homelessness, Riley said they'll see it in the form of 'an increase in the visibly unhoused.' Federal funding to support housing and homelessness programs works in concert with other types of non-housing related federal resources, Riley said. As examples, she pointed to weatherization and energy saving programs, which rely on federal funding, including from the Department of Energy. HELP will use those dollars to help extremely low income seniors or households with children to modernize or fix homes to make them more energy efficient. Riley said it is a far less costly practice than moving households to places that are more energy efficient. 'If they lose their home, (seniors) are not going to be able to afford the market rate,' she said. 'Then comes hundreds of households a year that are going to be affected. Weatherization is no longer just an energy conversation, it's a prevention' The proposed cuts to Medicaid could also have a sizable impact on people receiving housing and homeless assistance, Peters said. 'Many of the folks we serve are able to access medical, behavioral health and mental health services through Medicaid coverage,' she said. 'If that is reduced, folks can't obtain that care, which is critical.' For people receiving housing assistance, help to weatherize homes to be more energy efficient, and food assistance, they could face yet another blow to their fragile support system if they are also kicked off Medicaid, Riley said. 'How many more whammies … can they take?'
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Developers to replace Miami homeless shelter with luxury tower — but locals say they have nowhere else to go
A developer hoping to build a luxury high-rise in Miami Beach is offering city officials a controversial selling point: The closure of Bikini Hostel, a youth hostel that has recently become one of the only places on the island housing the homeless. As reported by WPLG Local 10 News, at a recent Miami Beach city commission meeting, attorney for the development Melissa Tapanes said the proposed development 'will result in the permanent elimination of the Bikini Hostel,' calling the site a 'plague on this community for a number of years.' Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) But advocates for the homeless say the hostel has filled a critical gap, especially after a drop in available beds at a nearby shelter. They argue that, rather than a nuisance, the hostel has become a source of stability and dignity for dozens of Miami-Dade County residents with nowhere else to go. The Bikini Hostel originally billed itself as a youth hostel with a colorful atmosphere, complimentary breakfast and 'a bed for every budget.' But since late October 2023, it has transformed into an emergency housing site for about 90 to 100 individuals experiencing homelessness. Most residents are referred by the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, the lead agency responsible for the operations and oversight of the county's Continuum of Care program. That shift happened, reports Local 10 News, as the Homeless Trust scrambled to find space after Camillus House in Miami reduced its bed capacity and the state's new law banning unauthorized camping and public sleeping took effect on October 1, 2024. Miami-Dade Homeless Trust Chairman Ron Book defended the arrangement and pushed back against criticism of the hostel. 'The city of Miami Beach doesn't think it has a homeless problem and doesn't have any responsibility to be part of the effort to house or shelter people on the island itself,' Book told Local 10 News. 'They think that burden falls on the other 34 municipalities in Miami-Dade County.' He added, 'Some people don't have a good image of unhoused individuals. I can't help that.' The hostel's owners initially resisted acquisition offers from the developer, reported Local 10 News. But with zoning changes allowing increased density, the developer can now afford to meet their price. A deal is now in the works, but the controversy is ongoing. Read more: You're probably already overpaying for this 1 'must-have' expense — and thanks to Trump's tariffs, your monthly bill could soar even higher. Here's how 2 minutes can protect your wallet right now The developer argues that replacing the hostel with a high-rise luxury building will improve quality of life and remove what some neighbors have long seen as a neighborhood blight. At the recent city commission meeting, Jessica Davis, vice-president of the Bay View Terrace Condominium Association, called the hostel 'a scourge and a blight on the neighborhood for 15 years now, long before its current iteration as a makeshift homeless shelter.' There are potential economic benefits. High-end housing typically boosts property values and tax revenue, and developers are often required to provide public benefits in exchange for zoning changes, such as park space, infrastructure improvements or relocation plans like the one proposed for Bikini Hostel residents. But, critics worry that closing the hostel without a viable replacement would displace already vulnerable residents and reduce emergency housing options at a time when few exist. 'This place has offered me something,' Bikini Hostel resident Angela Lovingood told the Miami Herald. After years of trying to find a shelter bed following the loss of her daughter in a fire, she finally found space at the hostel. 'Don't kick us while we're down,' she said. 'Help us get up, help us be a contribution to our society again.' Another resident, Michael Black, told the Herald that staying at the hostel 'makes you feel like a human being. You feel like you're a part of the community.' Courtney Caprio, an attorney for Bikini Hostel, said in a statement to Local 10 News that the owners are committed to ensuring no one is 'forcibly displaced.' They plan to use part of the proceeds from the sale to purchase a new facility that will continue to provide housing. Residents will have the opportunity to weigh in as the proposal returns to the Miami Beach city commission in late May. For those on either side of the issue, the debate raises larger questions: What role should the community play in addressing homelessness? And how do you balance economic development with social responsibility? Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
