HUDLogoOn Friday, January 17, 2020,, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, announced $3,866,478 in Federal grants, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program. CoC is designed to assist individuals and families experiencing homelessness and to provide services necessary to help such individuals move into transitional and permanent housing, with the goal of long-term stability.

Eligible applicants are nonprofit organizations, State and local Governments and public housing agencies.  CoC funds may be used for projects under five categories:  permanent housing; transitional housing; supportive services only; homeless management information systems (HMIS); homelessness prevention.

CoC is designed to promote community-wide planning and strategic use of resources, address homelessness, improve coordination and integration with mainstream resources and other programs targeted to people experiencing homelessness, improve data collection and performance measurement, and allow each community to tailor its programs to the strengths and challenges in assisting homeless individuals and families within that community.

“Access to affordable and reliable housing is crucial for Illinois families,” Congresswoman Bustos said….I’ll continue to do everything in my power to support the efforts of these organizations, who work to address this critical issue each day in our communities.”

Below is a breakdown of the funding by Illinois recipient:

City of Rockford:  $1,484,494
Institute for Community Alliances, Winnebago:  $83,670
Project NOW, Inc, Rock Island:  $275,653
Bethany for Children & Families, Moline:  $221,964
Dream Center Peoria:  $91,040
Freeport Area Church Cooperative:  $66,956
Goodwill Industries of Central Illinois, Peoria:  $172,904
Housing Authority of Henry County:  $71,722
Housing Authority of the City of Rock Island:  $65,709
Peoria Opportunities Foundation:  $256,336
VOICES of Stephenson County:  $55,006
Heart of Illinois United Way   $297,495
South Side Office of Concern: $723,529.