City and county get grants for homeless

HUD awards nearly $22 million
Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Angela D. Chatman
Plain Dealer Reporter

Cleveland and Cuyahoga County will receive nearly $22 million in federal grants for programs and emergency shelters for the homeless.
"It's absolutely critical to ending homelessness," said Ruth Gillett, program manager for the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Office of Homeless Services.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded more than $1.33 billion in grants nationwide Dec. 20, with cities and counties in Ohio receiving nearly $65 million.
The money coming to Cleveland includes more than $1.3 million toward the provision of services at and construction of a permanent supportive housing project for Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood.
The Emerald Alliance project could provide as many as 80 federally subsidized efficiency apartments and supportive services for chronically homeless people. The total cost and financing is to be determined.
Emerald Alliance will be the second new permanent supportive housing project launched by the Housing First Initiative, a coalition of advocates, service providers and city and county officials who have identified a need for this housing in the county.
The Emerald Development & Economic Network Inc., the Cleveland Housing Network Inc. and the Glenville Development Corp. are the developers.
Emerald administers the county's Shelter Plus Care program, which provides federal rent subsidy vouchers for homeless and disabled people.
The Cleveland/Cuyahoga allocation is up about $1 million from last year and covers the county's entire application for money under the Continuum of Care program, said an official from the Cleveland office of HUD.
Locally, more than $8 million is for grant renewals for existing programs, from Mental Health Services for Homeless Persons Inc. to the Salvation Army and the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, said Gillett.
Another $8 million is for Shelter Plus Care renewals. The $4 million in new money includes the money for Emerald Alliance and new Shelter Plus Care awards for additional vouchers for homeless and disabled people.
HUD also awarded more than $1 million in emergency shelter grants to the city and more than $146,000 in similar grants to the county.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
achatman@plaind.com, 216-999-4115

© 2006 The Plain Dealer