Local homeless groups to seek HUD grants

City Hall says the Athens-Clarke County Housing and Community Development Department and the Athens-Clarke County Homeless Coalition will apply for funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

From the Athens-Clarke County government website… 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced that $2 billion in grants for housing and services for the homeless are available for application through the FY2019 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Competition.

This is a nationally competitive application process that is coordinated locally by the Athens-Clarke County Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) and the Athens-Clarke County Homeless Coalition (ACCHC). The Annual Renewal Demand (ARD) available to the Athens-Clarke County CoC is $740,693. Additionally, the Athens-Clarke County CoC is eligible to apply for a Permanent Housing Bonus, which is 5% of the ARD (approximately $37,035).

HCD and the ACCHC invite all non-profit organizations serving the homeless in Athens-Clarke County to contact HCD for information and guidance on this funding opportunity no later than August 16, 2019. All applicants must notify HCD staff and the ACCHC of their intent to apply for funds prior to submitting an application.

Please note, HCD and the ACCHC CoC Project Review Committee will prioritize all FY19 Renewal Applications for projects that have yet to receive contract agreements from HUD over other applications. Additionally, funding for new Rapid Rehousing, Permanent Supportive Housing, Joint Transitional Housing and Rapid Rehousing (TH-RRH), and HMIS projects will be available through the 2019 CoC Bonus.

New projects will receive higher ratings if serving one of the following target populations:

• Chronically Homeless Individual or Family
• Homeless Families
• Homeless Youth (including households where no adult parent or guardian over the age of 24 is present)
• Victims of Domestic Violence

Members of the ACCHC have identified these target populations as the most in need in Athens-Clarke County.

All CoC Project Applications (New and Renewals) will be due to HCD by close of business on Friday August 23, 2019. HCD staff and the CoC Project Review Committee will review and rank all project applications. HCD will notify all applicants no later than September 9, 2019 if their application will be included in the Athens-Clarke County CoC grant application to HUD.

Before contacting HCD and the ACCHC, please review the requirements in the following HUD Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA): https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/5842/fy-2019-coc-program-nofa/

To request additional information, please contact Hayley Banerjee, Joanne Selgin, or Sara Shropshire at 706-613-3155.

The application review process will begin on August 29, 2019. The CoC Project Review Committee will review all applications received and determine if each is eligible for funding. The committee will also rate and rank each project (according to the criteria listed below) and determine which projects are eligible for inclusion in Athens-Clarke County's 2019 CoC application, which is due to HUD by September 30, 2019.

The following documents will be available to view on the HCD webpage under HCD Documents:

• FY2019 HUD Policy and Procedure Priorities
• CoC Renewal Project Application
• CoC Renewal Project Application Scoring Form
• CoC New Project Application
• CoC New Project Scoring Form