The Long Beach Continuum of Care was granted over $10 million this week from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to help the city’s efforts to keep people housed and get others off the streets.
HUD announced the award this week as part of $2.8 billion that it distributed to states in its 2022 fiscal year funding cycle. California received the largest share of any state, with over $525 million going to the state to fund 773 projects, according to HUD.
For Long Beach, that will mean more funding for existing programs that offer things like rental assistance for domestic violence victims. The funding provides about $2 million to various programs that the city can use for rental assistance.
The largest allocation made to Long Beach was for its Street to Home program, which funds about 78 beds or units throughout the city for chronically homeless people who identify as LGBTQ, people with substance addictions, those who have no rental history and those with persistent mental health needs.
Long Beach received $1,484,454 for the Street To Home program that will help pay for leasing and also supportive services like case managers who will help people search for homes, employment and other public assistance.
The city declared a state of emergency for homelessness in January and has seen a 62% increase in homelessness since 2020, according to the 2022 homeless count. City officials have not released data from the count that was conducted in January.
Long Beach has two projects in the works that could provide more permanent options for people who are unhoused with a tiny-home project it’s building at its Multi-Service Center that will provide 33 units, something the city expects to complete by the end of the year.
The city is also converting a former nuisance motel it purchased in North Long Beach into an interim housing site for people who are unhoused. The redevelopment of the motel is expected to add several dozen units once it’s completed. Both the motel and the tiny home projects were funded by a $30.5 million grant from the state.
Construction of 33 tiny homes at Multi-Service Center could be completed by year’s end