The continuum of care (COC) program is designed to promote community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, states, and local…

The YWCA of Helena received a $230,132 Project Grant award on May 5, 2025, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development under the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program (CFDA 14.267). This award supports the organization's efforts to address homelessness in Helena, Montana, through housing interventions and supportive services designed to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma associated with housing instability.

The grant funds eligible activities under five primary CoC program components: permanent supportive housing (including rapid rehousing), transitional housing, supportive services only, Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), and homelessness prevention. The YWCA of Helena will utilize these funds to establish and operate projects that promote self-sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness while providing access to mainstream support programs. As a nonprofit, woman-owned organization with tax-exempt status, the YWCA of Helena demonstrates a multifaceted commitment to vulnerable populations through coordinated community-wide efforts aligned with the CoC program's goal of ending homelessness.

Activities

Continuum of care program funds may be used to pay for the eligible costs used to establish and operate projects under five program components: (1) permanent housing, which includes permanent supportive housing for persons with disabilities, and rapid rehousing; (2) transitional housing; (3) supportive services only; (4) homeless management information systems (hmis), and (5) in some cases, homelessness prevention. Thirteen types of assistance may be provided through the continuum of care (COC) program: (1) COC planning activities/costs for designing and carrying out a collaborative process for the development of an application to HUD; (2) united funding agency (UFA) costs for fiscal control and accounting necessary to assure the proper disbursal of, and accounting for, federal funds awarded to subrecipients under the continuum of care program, (3) acquisition of real property (including structures) for use in the provision of housing or supportive services; (4) rehabilitation of structures to provide housing or supportive services; (5) new construction, including the building of a new structure or building an addition to an existing structure for use as supportive housing; (6) leasing of a structure or structures, or portions thereof, to provide housing or supportive services; (7) rental assistance, which may be short-term, medium-term, or long-term, as well as tenant-based, project-based, or sponsor-based, for transitional or permanent housing; (8) supportive services to assist program participants obtain and maintain housing; (9) operating costs of supportive housing; (10) costs of implementing and operating hmis; (11) project administrative costs; (12) relocation costs; and (13) indirect costs in accordance with 2 CFR parts 200, as applicable. In addition to using grant funds for the eligible costs described above, recipients and subrecipients in continuums of care designated as high performing communities may also use grant funds to provide housing relocation and stabilization services and short- and/or medium-term rental assistance to individuals and families at risk of homelessness as set forth in 24 CFR 576.103 and 24 CFR 576.104, if necessary to prevent the individual or family from becoming homeless. Limitation on use of funds: no assistance provided under program (or any state or local government funds used to supplement this assistance) may be used to replace state or local funds previously used, or designated for use, to assist homeless persons or persons at-risk of homelessness.

Expected outcomes

Decrease in the number individuals and families experiencing homelessness, more specifically using performance indicators such as the length of time homeless, returns to homelessness over time, and exits to permanent housing. COC performance profile reports can be found at https://WWW.hudexchange.info/programs/COC/COC-performance-profile-reports/.

Intended beneficiaries

Individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Subrecipient activities

The subrecipient activities are unknown at the time of award.