Homeless services get funding boost

CITY HALL — Federal officials this week allocated $169,000 for Glendale homeless services, which will be used to place more homeless shelter residents into subsidized permanent housing.

The funding comes in addition to the city’s annual allotment of about $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a dozen other homeless programs.

Jess Duran, assistant director of the Community Services & Parks Department, said the funding award was a “pleasant surprise” and will allow the city to subsidize housing for five more clients graduating from transitional housing services.

To qualify for a cut of the $190 million available nationwide for new projects, agencies had to meet high performance thresholds in a competitive process.

“The last couple of years we haven’t quite met that threshold, but this year we did, so we are very excited about it,” Duran said.

The additional funding means the city will likely see a larger allocation for years to come.

“From this point, it’s considered a renewal, so it’s pretty much automatic,” Duran said.