Take a look at the grants Kansas and Missouri received to promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced over $2.6 billion in FY 2021 Continuum of Care (CoC) Competition Awards for roughly 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs across the United States. The awards for Kansas and Missouri will provide funding for GKCCEH and surrounding HUD-affiliated programs to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing with access to supportive services, with the overarching goal of long-term stability.

The CoC program is designed to promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness. The program is the largest source of federal grant funding for homeless services and housing programs servicing people experiencing homelessness. The 2021 awards include approximately $102 million for new domestic violence support projects. The awards also fund new projects that focus on adding permanent housing to communities including new permanent supportive housing, new rapid rehousing, and projects that provide transitional housing to households and then shift them to rapid rehousing.

On August 18, 2021, HUD issued the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the FY 2021 CoC competition awards. The NOFO was the first CoC Program NOFO of the Biden-Harris Administration and reflects the Administration’s commitment to equity and evidence-based solutions to address homelessness. Additionally, for the first time, the NOFO invited Indian Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing entities (TDHE) to apply for grants through the CoC program. Specifically, HUD sought projects that:

• End homelessness for all persons experiencing homelessness;
• Use a Housing First approach;
• Reduce unsheltered homelessness and reduce the criminalization of homelessness;
• Improve system performance;
• Partner with housing and health agencies, including to leverage and coordinate American Rescue Plan resources;
• Advance racial equity and addressing racial disparities in homelessness; and
• Engage people with lived experience of homelessness in decision-making.

2021 Continuum of Care Program Grants

State	Number of Projects	Award Amount
Kansas	40	$8,244,596
Missouri	153	$42,388,633

This is why we participate in PIT

We conduct the Point In Time Count (featured on our blog on March 4 and January 27) in Kansas City to showcase a need for more funding from HUD. Our efforts in 2022 will hopefully increase the number of grants and awards once the results are finalized this time next year.

Highlighting Our Coordinated Entry Manager– A Key Player in PIT 2022

Kaylee Coulter is our Coordinated Entry System (CES) Manager. She joined GKCCEH in September 2021. She graduated from University of Missouri – Kansas City with her Master of Social Work in 2019. Fresh out of school, she starting working in our CoC as a Housing Navigator helping households experiencing homelessness get connected services and obtain documentation for housing.

Coulter started her social work career as an intern with HappyBottoms, a local diaper bank in Kansas City providing diapers to low-income families. This is where she cultivated her passion for advocacy and social justice. She is passionate about empowering others to overcome and/or adapt to challenges in their life.

Coulter is excited to be part of the GKCCEH team and is already playing an active roll in promoting positive, impactful change in the community!