A new $700,000 grant awarded to the Whatcom Homeless Service Center (WHSC) will help homeless families quickly get into permanent housing.

Greg Winter, WHSC Director, announced the US Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a "Rapid Re-housing" grant to Whatcom and Clallam counties for a collaborative housing project.

“It’s a great opportunity to work together and develop immediate housing solutions for families who are homeless,” Winter said.

Winter said the "Rapid Re-housing" program will focus on finding permanent housing for homeless families with dependent children. It will help bypass transitional housing, which is limited to a two-year maximum stay and often the route to finding permanent housing.

”We’ll be working to end homelessness by helping families get directly into a permanent home of their own,” Winter said. He added that as part of the program, each family receives case management support.

This is a three-year demonstration project that will begin this summer.

This project was one of 23 selected out of 250 applications from across the nation.

The Whatcom Homeless Service Center is a program of the Opportunity Council working in partnership with Whatcom County, the City of Bellingham, the Opportunity Council and other local housing organizations. It provides coordinated referrals to local agencies and affordable rentals, as well as case management support with the goal of substantially decreasing homelessness.