TOLEDO, Ohio — With the help of a generous grant, the City of Toledo will make improved strides towards eliminating homelessness.
The city was awarded $3.4 million Wednesday afternoon at the One Community Center in downtown during a news conference.
The funds were granted by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD Midwest Regional Administrator Joseph P. Galvan joined key community leaders working to address homelessness including the city of Toledo and the Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board.
The money will go to various partners throughout the city that provide services and housing for the homeless including Beach House Inc., Neighborhood Properties Inc., and the Catholic Charities Diocese of Toledo.
As just one example, the money will help make housing and rental assistance affordable.
"One homeless person or one homeless child on the street in Toledo is unacceptable. That's why it's important. We want to solve homelessness in Toledo and this is the way to do that. To provide those supportive services to people that need it until they are able to live independently without our support," said Tammy Holder of Beach House Inc.
"It's also going to allow us to do some planning and some collaborative work to identify where our weaknesses are and where we can get better and stronger and move forward to a better system within in our community," said Rachel Gagnon, Executive Director of the Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board.
The partners did apply for the competitive grant and even though they received this grant money, their work is far from over.
They said they'll reapply for more grant money next year.