Biden-Harris Administration awards over $103 Million in homelessness assistance to communities in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska

KANSAS CITY, Kan.  – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced nearly $3.6 billion in Continuum of Care (CoC) program awards for nearly 7,000 projects that provide housing assistance and supportive services to people experiencing homelessness, as well as costs related to planning and data collection. As a result of HUD extending application deadlines for disaster impacted areas, this is the first of two FY 2024 CoC award announcements.  Over $103 million in funds went to states in HUD’s Great Plains region covering Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. 

 “These awards are a significant investment in resources to end homelessness,” said HUD Agency Head, The Honorable Adrianne Todman. “Throughout the Biden-Harris Administration, HUD has furthered its commitment to addressing homelessness through major funding advancements and through programs like this one that provide critical funding, powered by a community-centered approach, to rehouse people in need.” 

HUD’s CoC Program is the largest source of federal grant funding for homeless services and housing programs serving people experiencing homelessness. Nearly 400 Continuum of Care communities applied, and HUD funded nearly 7,000 homeless services and housing projects operated by nonprofit providers, States, Indian Tribes, or Tribally Designated Housing Entities, and local governments. 

HUD has introduced a new two-year CoC Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the first time. Communities now only need to submit one CoC application, which HUD will use to award funding for both FY 2024 and FY 2025. This change significantly reduces the administrative workload for applicants.  

HUD also applied a first-of-its-kind cost of living adjustment to allow CoC budgets to better keep up with rising costs. This provided additional pay and support for direct service staff that will support service delivery for people experiencing homelessness. 

The awards announced today include explicit funding for youth and survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Included in these awards are $189 million to renew and replace expiring Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) grants and $62 million for new rapid re-housing, supportive services, and other activities critical to assist survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.  

“We cannot end homelessness without the thousands of providers who are committed to this work,” said Marion McFadden, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development. “The historic awards we are announcing today will expand community capacity to assist more people in obtaining the safety and stability of a home, along with ensuring that providers have the support that they need.” 

Throughout the Biden-Harris Administration, HUD has provided resources and made funding available to address homelessness: 

• Including today’s announcement, HUD awarded nearly $15 billion in homelessness assistance funding to communities through Continuum of Care funds, expanding housing and services projects for people experiencing homelessness, including survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and sexual assault.  
• Awarded nearly $1.5 billion for homeless shelters, operation of local shelters, and for related social service and homeless prevention programs.   
• Awarded $486 million through a first-of-its-kind Special Notice of Funding Opportunity to address rural and unsheltered homelessness.  
• Awarded over $400 million to prevent and end youth homelessness through the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program and Youth Homelessness System Improvement grants. And this year announcedthe availability of an additional $72 million in Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program funding for up to 25 communities nationwide.  
• Awarded or made available over $77 million through the Foster Youth to Independence Program to prevent homelessness among youth aging out of the foster care system. 
• Awarded nearly $42 million in Emergency Solutions Grants – Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing (RUSH) funds to help residents and families who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have needs that are not otherwise served or fully met by existing Federal disaster relief programs.  
• Served almost 90,000 veterans through the HUD-Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, the largest number in the history of the program. Since 2021, awarded over $114.3 million in HUD-VASH vouchers.  
• Since 2021, supported over 1,000 homeless Native American Veterans and awarded $27 million through the Tribal HUD-VASH program. 
• Awarded $10 million to help end homelessness among Native American veterans through Tribal HUD-VASH program. 
• Awarded $185 million through the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program, helping communities address restrictive land use or regulatory policies, improve and implement housing strategies, and facilitate the construction of new housing and repairs to existing homes and cut energy costs. And, announcedan additional $100 million opportunity through the PRO Housing program.  
• Announcedan $175 million Notice of Funding Opportunity to acquire, rehab and build permanent supportive housing. (Awards expected in 2025) 
• Announced $225 million through the first-of-its-kind Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement Program to preserve and revitalize manufactured housing and manufactured housing communities. 
• Implemented the $5 billion Emergency Housing Voucher Program (EHV) created as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan quickly, in response to housing needs exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. EHVs provided 70,000 housing vouchers to people experiencing homelessness through innovative partnerships between public housing agencies and Continuums of Care. 
• Directed Public Housing Agencies (PHAs)to be more involved in addressing homelessness in their communities, especially using HUD-VASH and flexibilities within the Housing Choice Voucher Program to serve veterans experiencing homelessness. 
• Made policy changesto help more veterans receive assistance under the HUD-VASH program and improve their access to supportive housing. 
• Made flexibilitiesto the Housing Choice Voucher program to make it easier for PHAs to determine program eligibility without documentation. 
• Continued partnerships between CoCs, PHAs, and Victim Service Providers to use housing choice vouchers to assist individuals and families who are homeless, at-risk of homelessness, fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, or were recently homeless or have a high risk of housing instability under the EHV Program. 
• The HOME-American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP) program provided $5 billion to 648 participating jurisdictions (PJs) to be used for strategic local investments in housing, homelessness assistance, and supportive services. With HOME-ARP funding, jurisdictions plan to produce 22,271 new housing units and support 24,540 affordable housing units through tenant-based rental vouchers. 

Below is a chart of awards by state. View the Continuums of Care and project awards here. 

FY2024 Continuum of Care Program Grants