Santa Barbara County and the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara County Continuum of Care have been awarded $5.3 Million in Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program grant funding to tackle homelessness in the region.
The grant funding, announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom, aims to support new and existing housing, shelter and services for those experiencing homelessness.
California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention Round 5 (HHAP-5) makes available grant allocations to cities, counties, and continuums of care with flexible funding to prevent and end homelessness in their regions.
“In Santa Barbara County, HHAP funding has served 1,681 unduplicated persons since 2020, with over 800 transitioning out of homelessness into permanent housing,” said Van Do-Reynoso, Continuum of Care Board chair.
“Funding has also driven collaboration to improve care to better address the social factors that impact their health,” Do-Reynoso said.
In response to Newsom’s announcement, Assemblymember Gregg Hart said, “This substantial investment by the State of California will be felt for years to come as our community works to disrupt the homelessness cycle and build a brighter future for many of our most vulnerable neighbors.
“I am proud of the collaboration taking place across the Central Coast to provide supportive services and connect people to life-changing housing opportunities.”
The grantees in Santa Barbara County will focus on programs to shelter and house people experiencing homelessness through interim housing and rapid re-housing with landlord incentives, and will provide wrap-around services and services coordination to assist those who experienced homelessness remain in housing.
In addition, 10% of the region’s allocation will focus on housing and providing services to youth experiencing homelessness.
Since 2020, HHAP funding has inspired collaboration to address critical gaps in the system of care and has created programs such as incentives to landlords to provide housing units for use by individuals experiencing homelessness, and outreach and coordination to assist vulnerable populations in accessing permanent housing and to promote housing stability in supportive housing.
“HHAP funds allowed us to offer incentives to engage new landlords in our region,” said Alma Harmsen, executive director of Partners in Housing Solutions. “This innovative way to engage landlords helped Partners in Housing Solutions expand our network to over 219 rental property owners and open 177 new units in Santa Barbara County.”
Funding for rental assistance and supportive services was also awarded to City Net, Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley, Good Samaritan Shelter, SBACT, and New Beginnings.
For more on the HHAP award, contact Emily Allen at eallen@countyofsb.org 805-695-6333.