Dallas and Collin counties will get $22 million to address homelessness, a 20% increase in annual funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The All Neighbors Coalition, a group of over 130 local organizations focused on solving homelessness in North Texas, will receive the funding through the yearly “continuum of care” funding program.
Housing Forward, Dallas and Collin counties’ lead agency responsible for coordinating homelessness response efforts, will help administer the funds along with the groups within the coalition.
“This annual competitive funding process adds necessary financial capacity to our overall community, allowing us to further many of our system goals by providing housing and supportive services for our unhoused neighbors,” said Joli Angel Robinson, president and CEO of Housing Forward.
Robinson said Dallas and Collin counties are getting extra federal funding because the local homeless response system has shown it can more effectively rehouse people and meet the needs of unhoused neighbors. She said the funds will support efforts to expand services for most vulnerable populations, including through permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing.
In Dallas and Collin counties, the extra funding will go toward about 30 different programs, including lease renewals, rapid rehousing initiatives, and permanent supportive housing programs and services.
HUD announced Wednesday $2.8 billion in awards nationwide for thousands of local continuum of care programs, with nearly $134 million headed to the more than 230 programs across Texas.
The annual funding awards builds on a $315 million first-of-its-kind package of resources that HUD awarded in January to help communities address unsheltered and rural homelessness.
The awards will benefit programs that have focused on equity and evidence-based solutions highlighted in the Biden administration’s federal plan to prevent and end homelessness.
“Helping people move into stable housing from temporary shelters and encampments on the streets is essential to ending homelessness,” HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said in a press release. “Working with our local partners, these Continuum of Care program grants, deliver communities the resources they need. Together we can work toward a world where no one experiences the tragedy and indignity of homelessness.”
