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Money for Homeless Services in Southwest MO Cut

KSMU Archives

Homeless services in the Ozarks are seeing their funding cut.  According to Community Partnership of the Ozarks, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—HUD—has confirmed the Springfield-Greene, Christian and Webster Counties Continuum of Care will lose federal funding for what they call “several key homeless service programs.”

They say four agencies were denied continued funding through Tier 2 of HUD’s 2016 fiscal year Continuum of Care grant funding opportunity.  They are:  Burrell Behavioral Health’s Park Apartments, which offer permanent, supportive housing for single individuals who have substance abuse histories and were formerly homeless but who have completed a recovery program.  The Department of Mental Health’s Journey to Home Program.  It’s a transitional housing program that provides rental assistance subsidy for chronically homeless individuals with mental health, substance use disorders and other disabilities.  Harmony House will lost $48,259 as a result of the HUD funding shift.  It’s a transitional housing program for victims of domestic violence.  And the Salvation Army’s Family Enrichment program, a transitional housing program for families, will have 103,459 fewer dollars in its budget as a result of the loss of HUD funding.

Michelle Garand, Deputy Director, Affordable Housing and Homeless Prevention, with Community Partnership of the Ozarks, says “These federal funding cuts are devastating for the organizations effected, but even more so for the people they serve.”

 

Michele Skalicky has worked at KSMU since the station occupied the old white house at National and Grand. She enjoys working on both the announcing side and in news and has been the recipient of statewide and national awards for news reporting. She likes to tell stories that make a difference. Michele enjoys outdoor activities, including hiking, camping and leisurely kayaking.