Three programs in Clallam County and another in Jefferson County are among scores of homeless programs in Washington state receiving renewed federal Continuum of Care grants worth $37.7 million.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development announced awards this week of about $360,000 to Serenity House in Clallam County for three programs and a $135,000 award to Olympic Peninsula Community Action Programs for the Crossroads program in Jefferson County.
In Clallam County, $143,000 will go toward case management and other support services; $139,000 to help support Evergreen Family Village, a 16-unit transitional housing facility for families with children; and $78,000 for Tempest, a 13-unit housing facility for single adults.
The support services portion serves about 500 people a year, said Kathy Wahto, executive director of Serenity House.
“The single adult shelter alone is almost 400,” she said.
Evergreen Family Village serves about 22 households every year, about 50 people total, she said.
About 18 people use Tempest each year.
Crossroads in Port Townsend is a 10-unit housing complex that provides transitional housing for people coming out of substance abuse treatment who otherwise would be homeless.
The grants were announced a week before the nation’s annual homeless count begins.
Federal officials say the numbers of homeless individuals have been dropping since 2005, but the number of homeless families increased between 2008 and 2009, a likely result of the recession.
Agencies that serve homeless people also received $1.5 billion in federal stimulus money that went directly to landlords and property owners to prevent people from slipping into homelessness during the economic downturn.
Wahto said the rental assistance program has been successful in Clallam, as well as having a positive economic impact, but the money will run out after this year and agency officials are looking for demonstration grants and other federal sources to keep it going.
“We just have to find all the potential opportunities that are out there,” she said.
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Julie McCormick is a freelance writer and photographer living in Port Townsend. Phone her at 360-385-4645 or e-mail juliemccormick10@gmail.com.
