City of Atlanta Awarded $2.4 Million Grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for Homelessness Initiatives

ATLANTA — (RealEstateRama) — The City of Atlanta announced today that the Atlanta Homeless Continuum of Care was awarded a three-year, $2.4 million Cooperative Agreement to Benefit Homeless Individuals (CABHI) grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Center for Mental Health Services (SAMHSA), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The SAMHSA grant will help promote collaboration among City and Continuum of Care agencies to reduce homelessness for chronically homeless individuals living with mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders in the City of Atlanta. The goal of the project is to connect individuals to a successful permanent housing solution with access to all necessary mainstream support services.

“My Administration is committed to reducing and eliminating chronic homelessness in our city,” said Mayor Kasim Reed. “This three-year, $2.4 million award from SAMHSA will go a long way in supporting the hard work done every day by our Continuum of Care agencies in their goal to move this vulnerable population into permanent, stable housing.”

During the three year grant initiative, the Atlanta Continuum of Care will identify and serve approximately 160 people per year experiencing chronic homelessness and mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders. The City of Atlanta will partner with local providers equipped and experienced in serving this population to provide services to program participants. All participants will be offered permanent housing solutions.

“I am pleased to receive this award, which will enable the Atlanta Continuum of Care to expand outreach efforts to the unsheltered and chronically homeless,” said Cathryn Marchman, Executive Director of Partners for H.O.M.E. “Using best practices and evidence-based tools such as street medicine, trauma informed care and a housing first approach, these funds will allow us to offer a comprehensive delivery model to those who need it most.”

The SAMHSA grant will also fund a Steering Committee which will oversee the goals and objectives of the project, increasing coordination with other entities such as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care, Emergency Solutions Grant Recipients, the Continuum of Care Coordinated Entry system, and other stakeholders involved in implementing local plans to end homelessness.

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For more information about the City of Atlanta, please visit http://www.atlantaga.gov or watch City Channel 26. Follow the City of Atlanta on Facebook and Twitter @CityofAtlanta. Follow Mayor Reed on Facebook and Twitter@Kasim Reed

Anne Torres, Director
404-330-6423, office
404-904-2618, cell