Homeless programs in Maryland received more than $38.2 million in federal funding, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Tuesday.
“Who knows better than the local folks what their local needs are,” said HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan.
Local Continuum of Care programs statewide, which provide outreach programs and transitional housing, compete for the funding.
The money also includes emergency shelter grants, which are distributed based on a formula used to determine need, Sullivan said.
This year, 13 new programs benefited from the grants, such as a supportive housing program in Baltimore City that received nearly $1.2 million.
“It?s very competitive,” Sullivan said of the Continuum of Care grants.
Nationwide, more than 5,300 homeless programs received nearly $1.4 billion, HUD officials said.
“These grants will support thousands of local programs that are on the front lines of helping those who might otherwise be living on our streets,” HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson said in a statement.
Programs that aren?t successful in receiving grant money still will be funded for one year, Sullivan said.
This allows programs to keep their doors open while giving organizers a chance to reapply next year.
Nearly 8,000 people are homeless on any given day in Maryland, according to a recent estimate by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. In Baltimore City, about 3,000 homeless people were counted in a survey two years ago.
SOME TOP GRANT WINNERS
Annapolis/Anne Arundel
» Catholic Charities $329,983
» Emergency Shelter Grants $94,291
» County total $1.65 million
Baltimore City
» Baltimore Mental Health Systems Inc. $3.5 million
» Emergency Shelter Grants $1.03 million
» County total $17.84 million
Baltimore County
» Prologue Inc. $431,727
» Emergency Shelter Grants $186,682
» County total $1.59 million
Carroll
» Human Services Programs of Carroll County Inc. $193,468
» County total $285,112
Harford
» Catholic Charities $226,878
» Countytotal $597,385
Howard
» Howard County Government $426,828
» County total $562,164
? Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
