This article appeared Wed in the Augusta Chronicle.
Grants will help city's homeless
Services for the Augusta homeless received more than $448,000 in grant support
Tuesday from the federal government.
Much of the money, which is awarded annually on a competitive basis, will go
toward transitional housing, job-training skills, and substance-abuse counseling
in the Augusta area.
A snapshot homeless count in January estimated there to be 472 homeless
people in the city, 31 of whom were not in shelters.
The agencies that benefited this year were Hope House Inc., CSRA Economic
Opportunity Authority Inc., Augusta Task Force for the Homeless, Goodwill
Industries of CSRA Inc., and the city of Augusta.
Lynda Suarez, the resource development director for the CSRA Economic
Opportunity Authority Inc., said the money will go a long way this year, but
agencies didn't get all of what they expected.
About $350,000 that homeless advocates hoped would go toward two permanent
housing projects was not awarded, she said.