Long Beach Continuum of Care Receives $7.6 Million Grant Award to Fight Homelessness
Long Beach, CA
The Long Beach Continuum of Care (CoC) has been awarded $7.6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to continue providing services to those who are experiencing homelessness in Long Beach. The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services is the lead recipient agency to provide oversight of this grant.
“Homelessness is a multi-layered issue that affects the entire community,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “The Long Beach Continuum of Care is an exemplary model of service providers who are dedicated to getting people housed, and keeping people from falling back into homelessness.”
The Long Beach CoC will fund 11 organizations that collectively provide 20 projects, including transitional housing, permanent housing and supportive services to individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness.
The funding period is from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2017. The City applies every year to HUD for these funds to support CoC efforts.
For this current grant cycle, the Long Beach CoC retained its status as a Unified Funding Agency (UFA), which allows flexibility to the CoC to make changes to its funding allocation across projects to better address the local needs of the community.
“The Long Beach CoC has shifted funds over the last couple years to fund projects that are the highest performing, grounded in best practice, and focused on success,” said Kelly Colopy, Director of Health and Human Services. “We recognize that we cannot address this issue alone and are working diligently with City, County, State and Federal partners to ensure positive outcomes for our community and for the nation.”
The CoC leverages additional community resources, including Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8), the Mental Health Services Act, Veterans funding and other government, private and foundation funds.
Linkages to these services are coordinated through the Multi-Service Center (MSC), which operates as the Continuum’s coordinated entry system providing intake and assessment. The MSC, located at 1301 W. 12th Street in Long Beach, averages 13,000 client visits annually, making it the primary point of entry for men, women, and families seeking assistance throughout the City.
If you require assistance, or have questions regarding homeless services, please contact the Multi-Service Center at 562.570.4500.
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