This week, HUD Secretary Julián Castro awarded $9.3 million will go to more than 50 programs helping the homeless across the Sunshine State.
Castro announced the Continuum of Care (CoC) grants on Monday with $355 million being awarded across the country.
“We know how to end homelessness and these grants support local programs that are proven to prevent and end homelessness as we’ve come to know it,” said Castro. “As we continue to make progress toward ending homelessness in this country, HUD is challenging communities to use more cost effective solutions to help those experiencing homelessness.”
“The single most effective tool in ending homelessness is giving the homeless a place to call home," said Ed Jennings, Jr., HUD's Southeast Regional Administrator. "Today's funding enables homeless providers to serve our most vulnerable populations.”
Homeless Services of Central Florida in Orlando will get almost $1.1 million in the grants while Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Petersburg received $956,000 for a rehousing project.
HUD estimates 564,7000 Americans were homeless at some point during 2015 but noted there has been a decline in the number of homeless individuals with a drop of more than 72,000 homeless individuals since 2010. In that period, the number of homeless veterans dropped 36 percent while the number of homeless families went down 19 percent. Chronic homelessness has dropped 22 percent since 2010.
Programs in other states California received more than any other state with HUD sending $61.5 million there. Programs in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington received more than those in Florida.
