Region receives $5.5 million to take future youth homelessness to nearly zero.

In what could mean nearly eliminating future homelessness for young adults in Monterey and San Benito counties, the Coalition of Homeless Service Providers was awarded $5.5 million by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for its Youth Homeless Demonstration Program, HUD announced Sept. 15. The Coalition was one of 33 agencies selected out of 97 that applied nationally and the only rural community in California to receive such a grant.

It’s a big deal for the region, says the Coalition’s executive officer, Roxanne Wilson, because for the first time there will be money specifically to house young adults aged 24 and under, traditionally underserved.

Over the past 18 months the Coalition and partner nonprofits used money from state grants to pursue the HUD grant after failing twice in 2016 and 2018. Their new efforts to win included participating in the Federal 100 Day Challenge to End Youth Homelessness last summer, which resulted in placing 40 young homeless individuals into homes.

“Once we saw what we could accomplish without money we just knew if we had the resources to really give it all we’ve got we can hit functional zero in our community,” Wilson says. The Coalition also created a Youth Action Board, composed of formerly homeless youth ages 18-24, and a Youth Systems Leader Committee, made up of 33 local nonprofits and county agencies.

Over the next six months the Coalition and Youth Action Board will develop a community plan required by HUD. Once approved, the Coalition will open up a competition for local agencies willing to create shelters or programs specifically to house homeless youth.