HUD awards $68 million to homeless programs in Chicago

Homeless assistance programs in the state will receive roughly $109 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care grant program, the federal agency announced Thursday.

Organizations based in Chicago will receive the most in funding, with $68.3 million, and programs in Cook County will receive roughly $12.1 million.

In total, HUD awarded roughly $2 billion to more than 7,300 local homeless assistance programs around the country through the grant program.

“These local programs are providing vital services to some of our most vulnerable,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a conference call with reporters on Thursday. “The grant program goes to the heart of our mission and supports the goal of ending and preventing homelessness as we know it.

In addition to helping keep local shelters open, the program allows organizations to continue to provide rental assistance, Carson said. There are about 554,000 homeless people in the country, he said.

Heartland Alliance and Thresholds, which both focus on connecting people to medical care and permanent housing, were among the recipients in Chicago.