Homeless coalition could have asked for additional funding

By Timothy Pratt

Friday, Aug. 29, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

A local coalition of private and public agencies recently discovered that it asked for $1.2 million less than it could have in its annual grant application.

The discovery came after a chance visit to a federal government website.

The so-called Continuum of Care process is run every year by the Southern Nevada Homeless Coalition, with technical help from Las Vegas and Clark County officials.

This year, a total of 10 projects with a price tag of $3 million were chosen for the application sent in late June, said Bridget Claridy, head of the coalition's committee overseeing the grant.

But on Aug. 15, Claridy consulted HUD's website on another matter and saw that Southern Nevada could have applied for up to $4.2 million, based on its current population.

"This is confusing. ... (It's) hard to figure out how this got this way," Claridy said Thursday.

The difference of $1.2 million could go a long way toward helping the valley's growing homeless population, estimated at between 8,000 and 10,000, advocates said.

"There is definitely enough need out there," said Gus Ramos, deputy executive director for the Clark County Housing Authority and president of the coalition.

Larry Bush, regional spokesman for HUD, said the agency could not comment on the apparent discrepancy between what was applied for and how much money is available until grant announcements are made in December. Local officials said the same thing.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development grants have brought about $15 million for helping the homeless to the Las Vegas Valley over the last eight years, Ramos said.

This year for the first time, the application included a computer database to keep track of who uses services at the different agencies around the valley and what services are used. There were also requests for funding housing for homeless veterans, housing for youths and housing for the mentally ill.

Ramos said he would be meeting with members of the coalition and officials from Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Clark County as soon as possible to try to straighten out the confusion over the grant.

"The coalition's only interest is to get out correct information and reach a solution if necessary," Ramos said.

"We hope that something can be done to get the ($1.2 million) this year -- if not, we could certainly use it next year."