Nebraska has been awarded a $10.1 million slice of national funding by the Biden-Harris Administration to expand housing and services projects for Nebraskans experiencing homelessness.
In late January, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $3.106 billion would flow into Continuum of Care (CoC) Programs across the county—the most committed in the agencies history. CoC programs were designed to provide a strategic approach to assisting families and individuals who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness in collaboration with nonprofits and local governments.
The State of Nebraska has three CoCs: the Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless which serves the Omaha metropolitan area, the Lincoln Continuum of Care which serves the City of Lincoln, and the Nebraska Balance of State Continuum of Care which serves greater-Nebraska. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Center on Children, Families, and the Law (CCFL) serves as the lead agency in both the city of Lincoln and for the rural Balance of State.
Thursday, HUD Field Office Director Kitty A. Amaya presented a ceremonial check to Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird to commemorate the award. The total award ($10,143,593) will be split nearly 50/50, with the Lincoln CoC receiving $5,119,548 and the Nebraska Balance of State CoC receiving $5,024,045.
“While we saw a very modest rise in the overall rate of homelessness in Lincoln based on the 2023 Point in Time count data, we are urgently responding to the need in the community, getting these historic levels of grant funds in the hands of our local partners,” said HUD Great Plains Regional Administrator Ulysses Clayborn.
“This is in a magnificent moment,” said Mayor Gaylor Baird, “We are thrilled that a portion of the homelessness assistance funding announced today will be directed toward the operation of Lincoln’s first city-owned permanent supportive housing.”
The city of Lincoln will pull nearly $300,000 of the $5 million to help create and operate a housing facility consisting of 24 individual apartments, located on 8th and “J” Street, combined with wraparound services to help unsheltered chronically homeless individuals get off the street and back on their feet. This project was announced during the Mayor’s State of the City address in 2022. The Mayor said the city has recently selected an architect for the project, and will be moving forward with construction in the coming year. The remainder of that $5 million will be awarded to 10 Lincoln CoC agencies for 25 different homelessness response programs.
Funds to assist homelessness efforts in Greater-Nebraska will reinforce statewide efforts to provide housing, resources, and pathways to stability.