MSHDA Funds Available for Shelter Diversion

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KALAMAZOO – The Kalamazoo County Continuum of Care is currently inviting proposals from eligible agencies for projects related to shelter diversion.

In 2022, The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) received a state budget allocation of $50 million for the Housing and Community Development Fund (HCDF).

These funds are intended to expand housing supports for the State of Michigan through a variety of projects and services based on identified needs. Through stakeholder engagement and listening sessions, MSHDA identified shelter diversion as a priority demonstration project to test, expand, and implement shelter diversion practices and models in select homeless crisis response systems. Under this allocation, MSHDA is investing $3 million for a 2-year Shelter Diversion Pilot through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process.

Through the support of the Housing and Community Development Fund (HCDF), MSHDA is seeking proposals for eligible agencies to implement or expand effective shelter diversion models.  This pilot will demonstrate the impact of effective shelter diversion on homeless crisis responses systems and, more importantly, the impact on households at risk or currently experiencing homelessness. The Continuum of Care can only support one proposal for submission to MSHDA.

The maximum grant award is $500,000. The grant term is 2 years. MSHDA anticipates awarding up to 10 proposals, depending on project size.

The Shelter Diversion Pilot request for proposals was released Friday, February 17, 2023, by MSHDA and is now open. Proposals are due by Friday, April 21, 2023 with a projected program start date of Thursday June 1, 2023.

The Applicant Packet includes the following:

Proposal, local application, and supporting documents are due by 5 p.m. March 24, 2023 via email to CoC Director Patrese Griffin (p.griffin@uwscmi.org).