North Olympic Peninsula programs serving the homeless received nearly a half-million dollars in federal grants last week.
A total of $495,800 in Housing and Urban Development Continuum of Care renewal funding was awarded to Serenity House of Clallam County and Olympic Community Action Programs.
The money is part of $38,610,507 in renewal funding to 208 programs in the state, up from $37,735,249 last year.
The funding is to ensure that existing programs continue operating next year.
Funds for new projects will be awarded in early 2012.
Serenity House of Clallam County received three grants totaling $360,201 for programs in Port Angeles.
Evergreen Family Village, a 16-unit transitional housing facility for families with children, was given $138,769, compared with $139,000 last year.
Case management and other support services received $142,951, compared with $143,000 last year.
Tempest, a 13-unit housing facility for single adults, was given $78,481, compared with $78,000 last year.
Olympic Community Action Programs received $135,599 for the Crossroads program in Port Townsend.
Last year, it received $1350,000.
Crossroads is a 10-unit housing complex that provides two-year transitional housing for people coming out of substance abuse treatment who otherwise would be homeless.
“The grants we’re awarding today will literally keep the doors of our shelters open and will help those on the front lines of ending homelessness do what they do best,” said U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.
“It’s incredible that as we work to recover from the greatest economic decline since the Great Depression, the total number of homeless Americans is declining, in large part because of these funds.”
HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Mary McBride said that some communities had seen modest declines in homelessness in 2011 while others saw an increase.
“There is, in other words, lots of work to be done,” she said.
