KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Work has begun to screen families for Kalamazoo County’s expanded and unique housing initiative to combat homelessness.
Voters approved an extra millage last year to finance the program, and Kalamazoo County commissioners recently approved contracts with the agencies that will do the work.
The goal of the Local Housing Assistance Fund is to reduce homelessness by putting families with children into temporary housing and to give their parents coaching, job assistance and access to services to help them become self-sufficient if they need it.
Each program will be designed to suit the the needs of that particular family. The participants will have a year of subsidies to reach that goal.
Housing Commission Member Dave Artley said an immediate goal is to get the first families situated before the school year begins. They have been operating the program on a smaller scale and are having some success.
They are trying to keep the children of those families in the same school districts they currently attend, and they’re hoping to improve the performance of those children in school by giving them a roof over their heads and stability.
Artley said, in the long run, they hope it will cost less to handle the homeless in this way than expanding shelters. The successes and failures will be closely monitored and carefully documented, because they hope to refine the program and make it a model for other communities to copy nationwide.
