BALTIMORE — A new report shows Baltimore is exceeding it's goal in it's fight against homelessness.
Mayor Scott announced Tuesday that last year the city connected over 1400 homeless people with some sort of housing.
“We were very intentional in our effort to meet the needs of our neighbors experiencing homelessness,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “I’m so pleased we not only met but exceeded our 2022 goals, and we will keep striving to make homelessness a rare and brief occurrence. “A few key things we’ve planned to keep our momentum going include:
- We established the parameters for the Rapid Resolution and Flex Fund, and we will kick off shelter diversion training this spring.
- We issued an RFP for Rapid Rehousing, and contracts have been approved by the City’s Board of Estimates. We are in the process of enrolling households in this program.
- And we are creating a Housing Accelerator Fund to help build and revitalize more affordable housing and grow our housing supply.”
They also added more the 2500 affordable housing units.
Although that's worth celebrating, the Mayor's Office of Homeless services reminded us that they're a lot more than just numbers.
"It represents our youth who has their whole lives ahead of them, and should be looking forward to their future, but struggled to keep up in school because they're worried about where they're going to get their next meal, or find a safe place to sleep at night. One of our veterans that has served for our country should be enjoying civilian life comfortably, but spends their nights sleeping in shelters or in the city streets," said Irene Agustin, Director of the Mayor's Office of Homeless Services.
Most of the funding for the projects come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Development, or HUD.
