Soledad rushes to save Homeless Youth Program before 1.6 million dollar grant expires
Briana Mathaw
SOLEDAD, Calif. (KION-TV) – The City of Soledad is facing a race against time to put $1.6 million in federal grant money to use, aiming to help young adults facing or at risk of homelessness in Monterey County.
The grant, part of the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP), was originally managed by a nonprofit that has since exited the region.
Now, Soledad has stepped in to manage the program and make sure the funds reach those who need them most.
“What we’re trying to do is bring stability to those children, maybe experiencing homelessness or, at risk of homelessness,” said Beatriz Trujillo, Soledad’s community and economic development director.
The YHDP targets individuals between the ages of 18 and 24. That includes single young adults and also young families, people who are often in transition and facing significant barriers to stability.
“Youth who are experiencing homelessness between the ages of 18 and 24. This could be, single individuals, but it can also be young families. So that age is a vulnerable age because we are entering into adulthood. People may not have enough work experience. It’s harder for people to have a better paying job,” said Beatriz Trujillo.
After the original nonprofit left the program behind, Soledad acted quickly by hiring a former program coordinator who had already been managing the funds.
“We hired a coordinator that happened to be the person managing this funds with BACS. So we thought that it was a good opportunity to hit the ground running, since we have a limited amount of time to spend the funds,” said Beatriz Trujillo.
Trujillo emphasized the importance of showing that there’s a local need for these services, not just to help now, but to keep the door open for future funding.
“We need to demonstrate that we have the need in the community. This type of funding is open for renewal. So if we show that there is a need in the community, we can apply to renew the funding for the next round of funding,” said Beatriz Trujillo.
The city plans to use the bulk of the grant for rental assistance and related moving costs.
“We can also pay for some of the moving cost. So that includes deposit, first month of rent. We can also pay for some of the expenses that people may need,” said Beatriz Trujillo.
“Most of the money is going to go to rental assistance and moving cost. This is one of the programs where it’s fully grant funded. If we run out of funding, we can place people in a waitlist,” said Beatriz Trujillo.
But once the grant runs out, the city’s ability to help becomes severely limited.
“We can try to provide referrals to other agencies that may be serving the same demographic, but unfortunately, there is no extra money other than this grant. So we can only use what is available through the rent,” said Beatriz Trujillo.
So that means, people are not going to be able to get the services, “Yes. Yeah,” said Beatriz Trujillo.
Spending the funds quickly, and wisely, is critical. If the money is used effectively, it could open the door to more support in the future.
“Spending the funds indicates to HUD that we actually have a need in the community. It’s that tight, that line. So we’ll do our best to spend as much money as possible. We will see what happens from it until December,” said Beatriz Trujillo.
The city has until December to use the entire $1.6 million. If they don’t meet that deadline, future funding could be in jeopardy.