IVCCC discusses funding opportunities to aid homeless
EL CENTRO — Potential efforts to use state funding to tackle homelessness in the Valley were discussed during a meeting held Monday by the Imperial Valley Continuum of Care Council.
“Although we are the administrative entity … we can’t do it alone,” explained IVCCC executive board treasurer, Peggy Price, of the Imperial County’s Department of Social Services. “We need our community to help us with this effort.”
Multiple local public, private and non-profit agencies and organizations joined the IVCCC to learn about the council’s major functions and annual funding application opportunities available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, California Department of Housing and Community Development and other funding sources.
“One thing that is very important to understand is that we truly all have been blessed with how far the county has moved this along in the last three months. … We need to realize that we as a community need to step-to and support and help them out,” said IVCCC Chair, Les Smith of the El Centro Chamber of Commerce.
In June, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors designated the County Department of Social Services as the collaborative applicant and lead agency of the IVCCC. The meeting’s presenter, Tony Phillips, noted that this decision assigned the role previously filled by Catholic Charities. The Social Services Department provides infrastructure support, organization and facilitation of the council’s functions, while also taking on the responsibility of submitting funding applications on behalf of the IVCCC’s membership, Phillips explained.
“[The county] doesn’t want to be in charge of all this money. In fact at our executive board meeting held last week, we passed a resolution that the executive board for the Imperial Valley Continuum of Care will have the ultimate last say on who receives this money here in Imperial County,” Smith said.
The state’s Homeless Emergency Aid Program is an upcoming funding opportunity that could potentially allocate nearly $5 million to various agencies and programs in the Imperial County. Once approved by the IVCCC executive board, these funds would be dispersed throughout the Valley to combat local homelessness through prevention and assistance projects.
The HEAP block grant program is designed to provide direct assistance to cities and counties to address the homelessness crisis throughout California. The deadline to apply for the program is Dec. 31. The County Department of Social Services will be the applicant for HEAP; however, it will be soliciting project applications from stakeholders, according to Phillips.
However, the more urgent deadline on IVCCC’s horizon is for the California Emergency Solutions and Housing program, which is a grant funding program through California Department of Housing and Community Development. This opportunity would potentially award the Valley with more than $1 million for a variety of activities to assist community members experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
The fast-approaching deadline for CESH applications is Oct. 15. As a result, the IVCCC will be holding a follow-up meeting on Wednesday to provide technical assistance and detailed instructions regarding the application for those interested. Applications are welcome from city, county, government agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions and all other eligible recipients of public funds. Collaborative projects among various agencies was also strongly encouraged by the council.
Currently, Social Services has obtained some funding on behalf of the IVCCC, with nearly a $500,000 provided through the Emergency Solutions Grants Program and more than $200,000 federally from the department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care program. According to Phillips, the program is designed to promote communitywide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness.
Apart from funding opportunities, members of the IVCCC’s committees have already provided input and identified local priorities and needs for the community’s diverse homeless population. In the coming year, they will also be providing training and consultation on the best practices and implementation of strategies to address federal, state and local mandates.
For more information of the council and upcoming meetings, community members and agencies can visit www.CoCIV.org