The possible use of those funds is expected to be among topics discussed in a 2 p.m. meeting, today, Tuesday, May 26, of the Davis County Homelessness Committee. It is due to meet in the County Commission Chambers at the Davis County Memorial Courthouse in downtown Farmington.
That’s according to Jonathan Hardy, the director of state community services. He said the funds are part of $5 million being awarded across the state based on homeless numbers and related factors in each county.
Called the Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Rehousing Project, it’s a three-year program funded under the federal stimulus package, Hardy explained.
“It’s pretty targeted for what you can do,” he said. “It’s to keep people from becoming homeless, helping people already homeless get into housing with rental assistance.”
It can be used for motel vouchers if participants have identified long-term housing and the motel stay is only a short-term, stopgap, Hardy said.
Because Salt Lake City houses the largest number of homeless in the state, it will receive about 60 percent of the total, he said.
The federal Department of Housing & Urban Development will administer the program, with a contract expected in state officials’ hands by September, Hardy said.
“In Davis County, we will solicit competitive applications” from agencies with programs that assist the homeless, he said. No specific timeline had been set as of last week for when that would take place.
“We’re excited that we can have an impact on our homeless population,” Hardy said. He works closely with Lloyd Pendleton, state homeless task force for the State of Utah, and a Bountiful resident.
Among local agencies that will be applying for funding is the Family Connection Center, which operates transitional housing and related programs to help people become self-sufficient. It also serves as the county’s community action agency.
The FCC currently has about $170,000 in its transitional housing program budget, plus about $50,000 in its rental assistance program. Those funds are available to assist residents who qualify with rental payments, once every 18 months.
“That (funding) would fit in really well with what we are trying to do,” Anderson said.
The Davis Community Housing Authority would also be an agency that could apply, Hardy said. The DCHA operates a variety of programs to assist low and moderate income and disadvantaged people to find housing.
“It’s always nice to hear that some of this money would come for projects that we need,” said County Commissioner Louenda Downs, who co-chairs the county’s homelessness committee with MaryAnn Nielson, homelessness coordinator with Davis School District.
“Hopefully it will make a great deal of difference,” Downs said.
tbusselberg@davisclipper.com
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