GRAND RAPIDS, MI — A Kent County homelessness coalition is the recipient of a nearly $2.5 million grant in an effort to end youth homelessness.
The grant, from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), was given to the Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness.
The money will allow homelessness service providers in Kent County to “develop a community plan and pilot innovative approaches to end homelessness for adults 18 to 24,” according to a prepared statement from the coalition.
“We are honored to be one of the 17 communities selected to receive the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program grant this year,” Courtney Myers-Keaton, director of the Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness, said in the statement. “The coalition believes that complex social problems require multi-pronged approaches – this investment in our community is a great opportunity to innovate and make a huge difference for our unhoused youth and young adults.”
Myers-Keaton told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press the grant parameters are more flexible than grants the organization has received in the past.
“We are able to be more innovative with this funding than we can traditionally be,” she said. “A lot of times with HUD grants we use it for rapid rehousing or permanent supportive housing, but this gives us an opportunity to do something different. It really requires a lot of community input.”
Over the next six months, the coalition will meet with youth who have experienced homelessness to create a community plan for how to use the grant money. That community plan will then be submitted to HUD in April 2023 and project applications for area agencies will be open next July. Most likely, the projects receiving funding from this grant will be finalized in September.
Youth who have lived experiences of being homeless are already involved in the grant, having given input during the grant application process.
“There’s a couple of different ideas that were brought to our attention,” Myers-Keaton said. “One was direct cash transfers, recognizing that youth have the ability to make their own decisions about where their funds need to go toward to stabilize their housing crisis.”
The direct cash transfer idea has already been piloted by the As You Are (AYA) Youth Collective in the area.
Another idea for the grant money is to create educational programming for homeless youth.
“We also heard there’s a desire for some financial literacy programs,” Myers-Keaton said. “(The funding) most likely will go toward multiple projects. We may have housing projects, crisis mental health projects, things like that.
“We’re incredibly excited and honored and this is a great opportunity to make a difference in the lives of homeless youth.”
The Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness is housed within Heart of West Michigan United Way, coordinating more than 50 organizations to end homelessness in the region.
“We are so grateful to HUD for this grant, which will help us create new solutions to address youth homelessness that build on our existing investments in our community,” Michelle Van Dyke, president and CEO of Heart of West Michigan United Way, said in a prepared statement. “Addressing this issue requires collaboration at all levels, from HUD, city and county officials to nonprofit leaders and community members, and this grant plays a critical role in helping us address these needs. It is a great honor that our community has been entrusted with these funds.”
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