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Continuum-of-care director warns HUD funding changes could jeopardize supportive housing in Tompkins County
Summary
At the January Neighborhood Investment Committee meeting, Lydia Barger of the Human Services Coalition outlined how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development(HUD)notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) changes and a lowered protectedtier could force local supportive-housing projects into competition and put an estimated 60 permanent supportive housing beds at risk in Tompkins County.
Lydia Barger, director of housing initiatives at the Human Services Coalition and coordinator of the Tompkins County Continuum of Care, told the Ithaca Urban Renewal AgencyNeighborhood Investment Committee on Jan. 1 that recent changes to a federal HUD funding notice could materially affect local homelessness programs.
Barger said HUD shifted the funding competition to a new two-year NOFO and — in the 2025 iteration — dramatically cut the portion of funds placed in a locally-protected "tier 1" from historical levels to about 30 percent, leaving the remainder subject to a national competitive process. She said the new NOFO also capped the share of projects allowed to be permanent supportive housing at 30 percent, a change that would force many Tompkins County supportive-housing projects to compete for renewal funding.
"That tier 1 was set at 30 percent," Barger said, describing the change in her presentation. "Instead of 90 percent of your projects being safe, only 30 percent of your projects are safe…
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