The Salem area may get more than $1 million of federal money over the next three years to help get its most vulnerable homeless residents connected with stable housing and services.
The funding comes through a competitive federal grant process and is intended to help homeless people with “severe service needs,” according to a request for proposals. That includes people who are chronically homeless and those with physical, mental developmental or behavioral health disabilities requiring significant support to maintain permanent housing.
The services would also focus on people in Marion and Polk counties who are considered unsheltered, as opposed to people staying in emergency shelters or fleeing domestic violence, said Jan Calvin, consultant for the Mid-Willamette Valley Homeless Alliance.
The Point-In-Time Count this year found that of the 1,805 people experiencing homeleessness in one day in January, 879 were unsheltered while 926 were in emergency shelter. The count provides a one-day snapshot and is known to undercount the homeless population due to the difficulty of locating people.
Due to the intensity of the services needed, Calvin said the money is not enough to get hundreds of people into permanent housing. But the money could make a substantial difference for 20 to 40 people each year who are currently sleeping near a freeway or in a tent encampment.
The Marion and Polk county region is eligible for around $1.11 million over three years — an annual $359,800 after subtracting $33,300 that would go to the alliance for planning costs, according to the request for proposals. Applications are due Aug. 31.
That money would be a bonus in addition to several grants renewed annually through a federal program.
The alliance is the Marion and Polk county region’s continuum of care, a program to which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development distributes money for homeless services.
The department will make the final decision on which applicant receives the new grant.
The grant comes as part of a $322 million federal spending package the Biden administration announced in June as money intended to address unsheltered homelessness.
Faith-based, government and nonprofit organizations, tribes and tribally designated housing entities can apply for the grant, the request said.
The request says the money is intended for coordinating with both housing and healthcare providers.
“It has to have that intense health care and housing partnership, so we’re working on all fronts to make people feel as comfortable and as assured to make commitments to each other together,” Calvin said. “I think the wave of federal funding is going to be seeing the promise in integrated health care and housing. It’s definitely needed in our community.”
The new grant gives flexibility to include permanent supportive housing, which provide affordable leases with social, health and job services for people who are homeless, institutionalized or at risk of either, as well as rapid rehousing, which offers short-term rental assistance and services intended to help people get into housing quickly and without preconditions.
Calvin declined to say who had applied already, but said some service providers have expressed interest in the grant — some serving a “specialty population” and others a more general population.
She said the money can be distributed starting May 2023 and through April 2026. The grant is renewable, meaning it can potentially be re-upped before the three years pass.
“We’ve got to give our community at least the opportunity to rise to the occasion,” she said. “If you’re doing a good job with things, you get to keep these dollars and continue to do a good job.”
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
