Peoria-area residents struggling with housing insecurity may face more challenges ahead as support organizations anticipate a drastic reduction in funding.
The concerns stem from changes the Trump Administration made last month, adjusting the formulas used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] to determine allocations that subsidize permanent supportive housing.
“Right now, what we're seeing is a decrease in about $1.35 million for our existing permanent housing infrastructure, which translates to about 250 units that will have to come offline,” said Kate Green, executive director of the Home For All Continuum of Care that coordinates services for the unsheltered in Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, and Fulton counties.
“Unfortunately too, with this competition, the amount of funding that is deemed safe or that we can rely on is only about 30% of our traditional allocation, and so we could really see a big hit across our entire system.”
That’s a fear that has already drawn the attention of Peoria City Council members. At the Nov. 18 meeting, Tim Riggenbach said it was “hard to wrap your arms around this” after hearing details of the predicament from Community Development Director Joe Dulin.
“When you think about the last 14 months, we’ve been working to find ways to increase permanent supportive housing. That’s been the clog in the system, by many accounts, and we need more permanent supportive housing,” said Riggenbach. “That opens up the transitional housing and the emergency shelters and on down the line.
“So to suddenly have the federal government pull the rug out from under us on permanent supportive housing, this is a ‘pause and think hard’ moment for communities around the country, not just Peoria.”
Green says another major challenge arises from a shorter window and adjusted timeline for submitting funding applications.
“We thought that this was going to be the second year of this funding cycle where we would renew projects, but we were notified in July that they would be actually doing another competitive cycle this year,” she said. “But we actually just received the notice of funding opportunity a couple of weeks ago, that we'd be going through this competition, which is very late compared to previous years, when we would be notified.
“Traditionally, we would have already submitted our applications, probably in the September or October timeframe. Now it's due in January, which means that even once the announcements are made, a lot of our early start grants will have already begun operating years. And so those projects now are facing the difficult decision: Do they wait to see if they are awarded? Do they pause? Do they close altogether?”
The biggest fear is that all the changes ultimately end up leaving more people with nowhere to stay.
“Some of our providers have already paused intakes of existing units that maybe are now vacant because we don't know the long term sustainability and viability of those projects,” she said.
“We already seeing individuals who aren't getting placements in the COC-funded housing projects because the funding is unstable, right? We don't want to house somebody that we're going to have to turn around and ask to leave that project.”
Green says they’re looking into contingency plans to assist residents enrolled in the programs that are likely to have their funding greatly reduced.
“We know that there is a lack of affordable housing, especially for these individuals that have a lack of access to income oftentimes,” she said. “So we do anticipate that there will be an increase in homelessness.”
'Terrible' timing
All this comes as the need for housing assistance continues to grow, with providers already coping with financial challenges – and the cold winter months arriving.
“The timing is terrible, frankly, for individuals right now in these projects. The uncertainty and the mental load that that's placing on them is huge, it's significant,” said Green.
“I do think that we're anticipating a lot of challenges, not just with the competition, but even serving people and meeting them where they are right now.”
"Unfortunately, though, it's going to be a very painful process to get to that other side."Home for All Continuum of Care Executive Director Kate Green
Some of that uncertainty manifested this week when the latest in a series of intentionally set fires at the New Hope Apartments in downtown Peoria left its tenants at risk of being displaced because the building’s fire alarm system was damaged.
Ultimately the city, fire department, and Phoenix Community Development Services – which operates the shelter – found a solution that enables the building’s approximately 70 residents to stay. But Dulin said it may take up to eight weeks to have a new fire alarm system in place.
Phoenix has been operating New Hope at a deficit, as federal subsidies have not kept up with market rental rates. The organization faces expenses for staffing, utilities, insurance, and pest control, and has not been able to pay for needed building repairs, such as a roof replacement and new water heaters.
All those building safety issues, coupled with the new federal funding concerns, have prompted Peoria to propose taking action. The council is expected to vote next week to authorizing a payment to Phoenix of up to $300,000 from the city’s remaining balance of $523,000 in American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] money to help the organization cover its funding gap.
Green says they’re hoping something changes on the federal level that may ease the funding restrictions, and they’re always pursuing additional funding streams and working closely with state partners to “move some chess pieces around in the best way possible to maximize resources.”
But she paused as she admitted it’s difficult to remain optimistic.
“I think any time we experience change, we try to find the positive about what it is that we can do better,” she said. “So I do think that there's an opportunity for us to strengthen community partnerships, to understand how we might be less reliant on federal sources, and how we're going to navigate this crisis together and come out the other side.
“Unfortunately, though, it's going to be a very painful process to get to that other side.”
