Des Moines, Iowa - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the City of Des Moines and its community partners with a $1,865,045 grant on Thursday, August 29 as part of the national Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP).
The City of Des Moines applied for the grant on behalf of the Polk County Continuum of Care, which is serving as the lead YHDP agency for Greater Des Moines. The Mid-Iowa Health Foundation and the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines joined the City of Des Moines in providing letters of financial support for the YHDP application.
The goal of the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) is to support communities in the development and implementation of a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness. Recipients will use this funding to support a variety of housing options for youth people under the age of 24 and who are experiencing homelessness. Over the next several months, the communities selected for these grants will work with their local Youth Action Board, child welfare agencies, and other community partners to create a comprehensive community plan. In Polk County, the YHDP will be incorporated into the December 2017 Plan to End Youth that created by our local community as well as the community plan, the Path Forward, released in August 2019.
“The Youth Homeless Demonstration Program will help our community by expanding housing options that reflect the needs of young adults and address their barriers to housing stability.” says Angie Arthur, Polk County Continuum of Care Executive Director. “With partners working together to create and implement a targeted and comprehensive plan, Polk County will be making a collective impact for our homeless youth.”
About Polk County Continuum of Care: The Continuum of Care (CoC) is designed to promote communitywide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, and State and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness; promote access to and effect utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families; and optimize self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
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