NC Policy Watch: “The Department of Housing and Urban Development has opened up millions of dollars in funding for groups serving unhoused people in rural areas — an unprecedented move by the agency, say housing advocates.
People living in cars, parks, and on the street at night, which the agency labels unsheltered homelessness, has increased across the nation, particularly in urban areas on the West Coast, but rural areas across the country are also being affected, a department spokesperson said.
Continuums of Care, the planning bodies that address homelessness within specific regions, have until Oct. 20 to apply for a portion of $54.5 million targeted at rural homelessness. HUD could not provide an estimate for how many organizations would benefit from this funding but said that 127 of them are eligible to apply.
According to the department’s January 2021 report to Congress, 2020 was the first year since it began collecting this data in 2005 that there were more unsheltered unhoused people than people living in shelters. The report also noted that “largely rural [Continuums of Care] had the largest percentage of people experiencing homelessness in unsheltered locations” at 44%, compared to 39% in Continuums of Care that include major cities. From 2019 to 2020, there was an 8.3% increase in unsheltered homelessness in largely rural Continuums of Care. “