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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis has received nearly $10 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that it will use to support more than 20 organizations involved in homelessness-reduction efforts., the city said Thursday.
The city is on an upward trend as far as funds received through HUD’s annual Continuum of Care programming. Last year, it received $9.4 million, up from $7 million the previous year. The latest amount of $9,993,301 is a 127% increase from the 2015 award and fulfills the city’s full request for funding.
While the homeless population across the city has decreased from its pandemic high of nearly 2,000 people, it has yet to return to the lower levels recorded before the pandemic hit. Last year, the one-day count of homeless people dropped to 1,761, still above the 2019 number of 1,567.
Efforts towards housing youth, individuals fleeing domestic violence and those who are chronically homeless will be the primary uses for the funds, Mayor Joe Hogsett said. Fifty-five units of permanent supportive housing will be added or reserved due to the grant.
Most of the funding will be used to make existing residential units affordable to individuals exiting homelessness. At the Salvation Army, 13 rapid recovery units will be reserved for clients fleeing domestic violence. At Horizon House, 30 more units will be reserved for chronically homeless individuals.
At Sherman Forest, 22 units will be constructed for those 24 years old and younger facing homelessness. The project is a collaboration with Partners in Housing.
Coburn Place, which provides housing and support services for survivors of domestic violence, received nearly $1.25 million. Not-for-profit Partners in Housing is receiving $1.2 million. Another $1.3 million will be spent to expand the Homeless Initiative Program’s rapid rehousing program.
Hogsett touted the Indianapolis Continuum of Care’s growth. Since 2018, the city’s capacity of permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing units has increased by 84%, to 1,149 beds today, he said.
An estimated 2,300 households could be impacted through the new funding, said Chelsea Haring-Cozzi, executive director of the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention.
The planned additional units add to the 104 units announced in November. Four developments—Compass on Washington, Hanna Commons, Providence Place and St. Lucas Lofts—are being funded with a $7.8 million combination of federal and local sources.
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Homeless is a city issue and we know the Federal government is creating inflation. I’ve talked to many of these homeless people. All that I’ve talked with are either recently out of jail, in drugs or mental ill. So fix those issues. We’re wasting money on the climate change rather that fixing what’s needed now. Shift the priorities. Let the market work on climate change, this is slower.
Might as well flush this money down the toilet.
Commentors here have obviously never been truly homeless, or down on their luck, or suddenly in bankruptcy. Many take no joy in being homeless, and for many a long road to rebound from.
As we have seen this past year, with weather nightmares, that result from ignoring Climate Change, and its causes. The results are evident …leaving many citizens homeless. temporary or permanent. Many lives have been lost, and suffered property losses, from which some may never recover.
The efforts are all a part of the answer, we must understand, and deal with immediate problems as noted above from David G., as well as problems that have been hundreds or thousands of years in the making.
Of the 2,000 people that are unhoused in greater Indianapolis today—what would happen if you gave each of them $5,000 in cash? Because that’s what $10 million dollars is for 2,000 people—about $5K each.
If you gave them cash I’m sure some would waste it. But I think some of the people would use that money to start paying rent. Or to get new clothes for a job. Or to buy a vehicle.
I don’t know if this is a viable solution. But doesn’t it seem like in a lot of cases, $5,000 is enough to help a person who is unhoused that wants to find a place to live and way to earn income?