TaskForce announces over $2 million in community grant awards
Press release from TaskForce for Ending Homelessness
NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA – The TaskForce for Ending Homelessness is proud to announce the award of $2,088,963.00 in community grants to nine nonprofit organizations serving individuals and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness. These funds will support critical services across Alachua, Bradford, Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy, Putnam, and Union Counties.
The awarded programs will provide a range of solutions, including outreach at encampments, schools, hospitals, and jails; housing services such as short-term rental and mortgage assistance for those behind on payments; and rehousing services with individualized case management. The grants also support adult and family emergency shelters, domestic violence and human trafficking shelters, behavioral health care programs, and more.
“These grants are a reflection of what’s possible when communities unite behind a shared mission. Together, we’re building a system of care that meets people where they are and supports them in moving forward toward self-sufficiency,” said Claudia Tuck, LCSW, Director of Alachua County Community Support Services and Chair of the CoC Leadership Council.
Among the organizations awarded funding by the Continuum of Care are Another Way, Catholic Charities Bureau, Family Promise, Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry (GRACE Marketplace), Lee Conlee House, Neighborhood Housing and Development Corporation, Peaceful Paths, Putnam County Caring Coalition, and Released Reentry.
Continuum of Care funding is made possible through the generous support of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), and the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners.
“This investment strengthens our region’s collective response to homelessness,” said Keanna Johnson, Continuum of Care Director at the TaskForce. “It equips our partners with the resources needed to connect people to housing quickly, offer targeted supports, and build long-term housing stability.”
Together, these grants reinforce the region’s commitment to coordinated, data-driven, and compassionate care, ensuring that fewer individuals fall into homelessness—and more are able to exit it permanently.
And yet homelessness will persist and increase while the recipients of this grant pay their mortgages and rent with the administrative portion of this grant money. At least it’s consistent that grants for homelessness never have to be measured against actual results. Liberals love trumpeting their virtue while avoiding accountability like the plague. I’ll bet anyone a dollar that homelessness will continue unimpeded, that the colonies in the woods will continue without change, that all the homeless red light panhandlers will continue. That taxpayers and residents will witness zero measurable benefit from this group receiving this grant. And that virtually no homeless people will transition to “non-homeless” status permanently due to these efforts – but hey, they mean well and that’s what counts, right? Intentions over results the blue city way. But I’m not bitter…
If you’re interested, 2 studies show that long term rent assistance or other long term housing assistance are most effective at resolving the problem and associated ones.
https://nlihc.org/resource/new-study-finds-providing-people-experiencing-homelessness-housing-has-positive-impacts
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6168747/