The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced that it awarded $315 million in historic grants to address unsheltered and rural homelessness. The first-of-its-kind package of grants and vouchers follows the progress of 100,000 people and families housed and 40,000 housing units added to the development pipeline by House America communities.
UNL-CCFL Community Service’s Division, on behalf of the Nebraska Balance of State Continuum, submitted a competitive application for and received a $1.87M grant as a part of this HUD initiative. This award will help to provide housing and homeless services to underserved populations and geographic areas across the state.
UNL-CCFL Community Service’s staff led the effort on behalf of the Balance of State and created a comprehensive plan to address homelessness in underserved areas that provides a new level of collaboration across public housing authorities, the health care system, and people with lived experience.
The entire Community Services team played a part in this significant effort. However, Senior Project Director Jeff Chambers noted the outstanding contributions of Skye Windle, who acted as the point for coordinating persons with lived experience in the process, and Brittany Brakenhoff, who helped to write the plan.
This grant will become a part of the annual BOS Continuum of Care renewal demand, now totaling over $6M per year, to house and serve those experiencing homelessness in rural Nebraska.