Homeless may get more fed money this year

By Timothy Pratt

Monday, July 26, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.

This year's pitch for federal dollars to help the valley's homeless should be more successful than last year's, those who worked on the application said Wednesday.

The 2003 application to the Housing and Urban Development Department was considered a failure, ending in an appeal for more money, which was denied.

The total sought in this year's application -- sent to HUD Friday -- is $6 million, or twice as much as last year. Other differences -- including an increased push for projects that provide housing and that help those who have been on the streets the longest -- come from a year spent studying HUD's requirements for the funding, said Shawna Parker Brody, analyst at Clark County Community Resources Management.

Changes in the face of homelessness across the Las Vegas Valley have also brought changes in the application, experts said.

Among them are the application's first-ever Henderson proposal, which also is the first project to focus on long-term housing for victims of domestic violence.

As for HUD's demands, the agency is currently focusing on housing the homeless and the so-called chronically homeless -- those who have been without a home for a year or three times in two years.

Last year's application failed to propose projects that dealt with issues mandated by HUD. That's the main reason it only netted $1.6 million for the region, a little more than half of what was sought.

The 17 projects in this year's application include seven that have some emphasis on the chronically homeless and three that involve permanent housing, Parker Brody said.

Also, there is the project based in Henderson -- a way of recognizing, said Paula Haynes-Green, regional homeless coordinator, that "the homeless are found throughout the Las Vegas Valley."

Parker Brody said the group working on the application "made sure there were services in dispersed areas."

That project will also focus on providing up to two years of housing for victims of domestic violence who might otherwise be homeless, said Daniele Dreitzer, executive director for Henderson Allied Community Advocates, one of the partners in the project.

Dreitzer said 20 of 25 subsidized apartments will be set aside for victims of domestic violence. This is the first project of its kind included in the application,she said.

Parker Brody has worked on the application for five years and said the region's "chances are higher this year than last year."

She worked on the unsuccessful appeal of HUD's 2003 decision. HUD is expected to respond to this year's application in December and the funds may be available by next spring, she said.

Parker Brody said another key factor in this year's application is that it has information from a local census conducted in April -- the first since 1999 and another of HUD's requirements for improving its chances at obtaining funds.

"We would have been out of the water if not for the count," Parker Brody said.

The count of the homeless showed an estimate of 7,800 homeless people in the valley, an increase of 18 percent compared with the 1999 number.

The census also indicated that the homeless are more spread out over the valley than in years past, a finding that helped back up the Henderson Allied Community Advocates project, which asks for $470,000.

While Parker Brody said local public and private officials who work with the homeless are optimistic about this year's application, it is also clear that meeting HUD's requirements is not the same as meeting all the needs of the homeless in the region.

For example, she said, though HUD is putting the spotlight on the chronically homeless, "the majority of our homeless population has been homeless for between six and 12 months."

That group of homeless people has different needs than the chronically homeless, she said.

Also, finding out from the census that the homeless population is more spread out than in years past means more outreach is needed than ever before, Parker Brody said.

HUD won't be funding that sort of work.

"We'll have to look for those funds locally," she said.