City approves $1.5M in housing funds, but need outweighs availability
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) More than $1.5 million in funding awarded for the next fiscal year will serve more than 755 individuals in need and preserve 206 affordable housing units through rehabilitation, housing officials said Wednesday.
The Missoula City Council signed off on this year's round of funding allocations, which include four separate sources of federal and local dollars. And while the funding goes far, advocates say the need is greater than what's available.
“Every year, the need is greater than the amount of funding that we have,” said council member Mirta Becerra. “These are all deserving projects that we'd like to see funded every year.”
Among the funding pots, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund will support two projects, including the United Way's Housing Solutions Fund and the continued rehabilitation of Creekside Apartments. The fund has just $309,000 available, though more than $1.4 million was requested.
Still, the awarded amount will go far, said Liz Stotts, the program manager at Homeward.
“The funding you awarded us is going to go further in helping with the mold mitigation problem we're discovering as we remove siding (at Creekside Apartments),” said Stotts. “It was built 30 years ago, and we're finding that a little extra money is going to go a long way for the integrity of the buildings and the health and safety of the residents.”
The awarded funding also includes $322,000 from the Community Development Block Grant and $604,000 from what remains of the American Rescue Plan Act. The programs awarded funding include the Human Resource Council's houseless prevention program and the Partnership Health Center's (PHC) Navigating to Stability program.
“We've been able to stand up supportive services at PHC, typically supporting around 30 to 40 people who walk in every day, sometimes up to 80,” said Amy Krzyzek with PHC. “These funds are making a really big difference in us being able to provide tenancy support service, basic needs services, and the supplies that a lot of our unhoused community members need.”
A committee each year reviews the available funding and pours through applications submitted by local providers. A matrix is applied to each request, resulting in a scoring system that ranks each project.
Bacerra, a member of the scoring committee, said the process is tedious and the end result can't support every request. This year, 19 funding requests were submitted and 11 were awarded funding, according to the city.
“It's challenging to be in a position where you want to fund all of these really deserving projects,” said Becerra. “The importance of funding some of the projects that do maintenance is directly linked to the ability of those organization to continue to provide affordable housing.”