Scott Administration Adds to Historic Investment in Affordable Housing, Making Permanent Supportive Housing A Top Priority

BALTIMORE, MD (Wednesday, September 6, 2023) - Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott, along with Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy, Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services Director Irene Agustin, and Chief Recovery Officer Shamiah Kerney, announced the latest affirmative step Baltimore City is taking to combine affordable housing, health care, and supportive services to help individuals and families who are homeless, may have been formerly homeless, or otherwise unable to maintain housing stability.

Together, Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services (MOHS), and the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs (MORP) are announcing a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) beginning September 6, 2023.  This is an investment of nearly $30 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds - $15.2 million from the City’s American Rescue Plan Act State and Local Recovery funds (SLFRF) and $14.7 million from the Home Investment Partnerships Program American Rescue Plan Act funds.

“This Housing Accelerator Fund will genuinely change lives by helping produce the one guaranteed thing we know reduces housing insecurity: more affordable housing,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “With this ARPA funding, we’re investing historic amounts in efforts to create permanent supportive housing that will help those who are either experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This Housing Accelerator Fund will not only grow our housing supply, but help eliminate the challenges that so many of our most vulnerable Baltimoreans continue to face.”

The NOFA proposes maximum awards for the construction of affordable housing of up to $250,000 per unit for permanent supportive housing and up to $100,000 per unit for traditional affordable housing. Additionally, projects will be eligible for awards of up to $500,000 for predevelopment costs associated with the funded units. An information session to discuss the components of the NOFA wills take place on September 14, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. Register here.

“Housing ends homelessness. The Housing Accelerator Fund is another way we are growing affordable housing in our community and responding with urgency to address homelessness in our city,” said Irene Agustin, director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services. “We appreciate the input from the community that helped shape this NOFA and the collective work to house our neighbors.”

The $15.2 million in ARPA SLFRF funds contributed to this NOFA is from the $75 million commitment to Homeless Services announced by Mayor Scott in February 2022.

"Addressing the challenges facing our unhoused population requires a comprehensive and compassionate approach, and permanent supportive housing is a vital piece of the puzzle," said Shamiah Kerney, chief recovery officer of the Mayor's Office of Recovery Programs. "By using ARPA funds to provide stable, long-term housing combined with wraparound support services such as healthcare, addiction treatment, and job training, we can help individuals break the cycle of housing instability."

The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) has been assisting the City of Baltimore in advancing solutions like the Housing Accelerator Fund to improve the lives of vulnerable people. Within the next 30 days, DHCD and MOHS will also launch a Supportive Housing Institute, coupled with early-stage predevelopment grants of up to $150,000 per project, to help build the pipeline of those providing permanent supportive housing solutions in Baltimore.

“The Housing Accelerator Fund and the planned Institute we have in the works are additional tools that will expand the number of affordable housing units and services available for our most vulnerable populations,” said Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy. Permanent Supportive Housing is a proven solution to addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness and leading to sustained independent living. I am so pleased to work with MOHS and the MORP in bringing these resources to the community.”