| More money coming to help prevent homelessness |
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| Wednesday, 29 July 2009 | |
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Managing editor Anoka County is getting the same amount of family homeless prevention dollars from the state of Minnesota in this biennium as it did in the last - $550,000. But while it is less than the county sought in its application for Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP) funds, $850,000, county officials are very happy with the outcome. That’s because there were more applications chasing the same amount of money that was available, according to Barb Case, Anoka County Income Maintenance specialist and grant administrator. Six new grantees were funded by MHFA for the 2009-2011 biennium, which began July 1, but the pot of money remained the same, some $14.6 million. Some programs which have received funding for several years got less money in this cycle, Case said. “We feel very fortunate that we were awarded the same dollar amount as the last biennium, even though we asked for more,” she said. The county feels good about the homeless prevention services it offers with the state grant dollars, Case said. The homeless prevention program also escaped budget reductions made by the 2009 Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s subsequent unallotment to eliminate the deficit in the 2009-11 budget. The grant dollars should be available to the county this week, Case said. The Anoka County Board has accepted the MHFA homeless prevention grant and also approved contracts with seven agencies that will provide services with the state money. They are the Anoka County Community Action Program (ACCAP), Alexandra House, Community Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP), Elim Transitional Housing, Emma B. Howe YMCA, Judicare and Rise Inc. They provide a range of services to homeless and imminently homeless persons in Anoka County, according to Case. There is one new agency with whom the county has contracted for this biennium - Emma B. Howe YMCA, which will provide services for homeless youth, Case said. Two agencies that had contracts in the last biennium did not reapply. They were Freeport West and Mediation Services for Anoka County. Freeport West, which offered independent living skills and budgeting classes at alternative schools in the county under its contract with the county, felt it was stretched too thin for the dollars it received, Case said. Mediation Services, which worked in tandem with the Emma B. Howe YMCA with its allocation last biennium, specifically providing mediation for teens and their parents, decided to let the YMCA “go for it” this biennium, she said. While Alexandra House provides temporary housing for battered women and children, with the grant money it also works to find permanent housing for present and former clients, Case said. The Anoka County Community Action Program is the major provider of mortgage counseling services in the county, while CEAP, at its office in the Anoka County Human Services Center in Blaine, offers crisis services for people at risk of homelessness, for example, rent payments to prevent eviction, she said. Both Elim and Rise Inc. have transitional housing and other services in place for people that are homeless or at risk of homelessness, for example rent subsidies, with Rise focusing on residents with mental health issues, according to Case. The two agencies also provide programs to help their clients become better tenants and pay their bills, Case said. Judicare offers legal services to people facing eviction, she said. “These agencies will work collaboratively to deliver an array of services to homeless and imminently homeless families, adults and youth in the county,” Case said. Demand for homeless prevention services has increased with the economic recession. An annual homeless count undertaken by the county with the help of a number of agencies and organizations Jan. 28 this year tallied 1,004, according to Case. That compares with the last count of 609, done in January 2008, she said. Part of the increase can be attributed to the impact of the recession, but also to a better organized and more accurate count this year, Case said. The count included single adults, families, children and families and youth, she said. Besides these contracts, the county’s Income Maintenance Department, which administers the FHPAP grant program, will contract with CEAP for data collection and input into the homeless management information system as required by MHFA, as well as for advisory reports and issuance of client assistance checks. The county also has in place an advisory committee with which it consults on a regular basis on program design, implementation and ongoing performance evaluations. Prior FHPAP dollars have also involved the development of the Continuum of Care community long-range plan to end homelessness launched last year and called Heading Home, Anoka County. The goals of the project are to: • Build community involvement, knowledge and awareness of homelessness in the county. • Increase and maintain housing stock for the targeted population by increasing the number of permanent housing units that are affordable, increasing the number of transitional housing units and increasing the number of housing units with specific supportive services for those with special needs. • Provide immediate emergency housing with coordinated services for those in a housing crisis by expanding present emergency housing options and increase outreach and case management to serve people who are in crisis. • Maintain consistent, high quality services to reduce barriers to housing by providing quality community facilities and services, training for providers of supportive services on best practices, transportation resources if needed and childcare resources if needed. • Prevent homelessness by providing resources on foreclosure prevention and training programs that promote self-reliance as well as utilizing the Federal Neighborhood Stabilization (NSP) funds as a resource to purchase a rental property, requesting funding for people at risk of homelessness and creating a guide for those who may face eviction that identifies resources that may resolve their housing crisis. Peter Bodley is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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