Virginia Homeless Solutions Program

The GRCoC is pleased to announce the availability of funding for homeless services in the Richmond region through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). DHCD released the Guidelines for the 2024-2026 Virginia Homeless Solutions Program (VHSP) statewide competition on February 2, 2024.

The VHSP is a state- and federally funded program to support Continuum of Care (CoC) strategies and homeless service and prevention programs that align with the following goals:

To reduce the number of individuals/households who become homeless,
To shorten the length of time an individual or household is homeless, and
To reduce the number of individuals/households that return to homelessness.

The VHSP is a collaborative funding opportunity. Each project application must meet the GRCoC's Threshold Requirements. Please review those requirements and other important information on GRCoC Coordinated Funding programs at endhomelessnessrva.org/funding in order to be considered by the GRCoC Ranking Committee. The community's collaborative application will be submitted by Homeward on behalf of the GRCoC.

DHCD's due date for the collaborative application is April 5. The Ranking Committee is meeting on February 16 to finalize the timeline and project application materials. Once finalized those documents, along with dates for information sessions and office hours will be communicated through the GRCoC Newsletter.

VHSP Collaborative Application Open for Public Comment

The GRCoC has made available the first draft of the FY25 VHSP community narrative. This draft represents how our network of services is collaboratively addressing homelessness in the Richmond region. Although small edits and additions may be made, the responses provide clear direction to the CoC's approach to each inquiry.

The draft will be open for public comment for until Monday April 1st at 5PM. After the public comment period ends, the draft will be sent to the GRCoC board for review. Once approved by the board, the final version will be submitted to DHCD before Friday, April 5th.

The links below contain the collaborative application as well as the collaborative funding request:

GRCoC FY25 VHSP Coordinated Application DRAFT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

GRCoC FY25 VHSP YearOne Funding Request FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

To provide feedback, please email grcoc@homewardva.org.

VHSP Project Applications Open

The GRCoC is now accepting applications for the Virginia Homeless Solutions Program funding competition. Project applications will be accepted for: 1) Emergency Shelter Operations; 2) Rapid Re-Housing; 3) Outreach; and 4) Coordinated Entry. Administrative costs are also eligible and should be included in the project application budget. Administrative costs are limited to a maximum of 5% of submitted budgets.

We anticipate receiving requests for funding that will exceed the funding available. Please note that not all eligible activities will be prioritized for funding and that not receiving funding is not a reflection on need, program quality, or grounds to appeal. Not all eligible programs can be funded through this funding source. Click the link for more information on GRCoC’s 2023-2024 funding priorities.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will allocate approximately $15 million in state and federal funds through this community-based application process. In FY23, the Greater Richmond Continuum of Care (GRCoC) received approximately $1.6M in VHSP funding.

Individual project applications are submitted to the GRCoC through this link by March 11, 2024 at 4:30 to be reviewed and considered for funding. If recommended for funding, projects will be consolidated into a single collaborative application for submission to DHCD. Homeward, the planning and coordinating agency for homeless services in the Richmond area, is the designated collaborative applicant for the GRCoC to develop and submit this collaborative application.

Applicants are responsible for reviewing the 2024-2026 VHSP Program Guidelines which contain detailed information about eligible activities and other requirements.

New applicants and previous grantees are invited to apply. New applicants are encouraged to apply and are asked to contact the CoC Programs Director at mrogers@homewardva.org to discuss their application. Applicants must meet all GRCoC threshold requirements.

The deadline for submission of applications with all attachments is 4:30 pm on MARCH 11, 2024. Please submit the application and attachments as separate PDF documents through this link GRCoC VHSP FY25 Project Applications. Applications received after the deadline will be automatically rejected.

Please join Homeward for a FY25 VHSP How to Apply information session on Thursday, February 22 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m through this link: https://zoom.us/j/4134907155?pwd=NENMZUJVQ2RhVmd5SUxXZzRHSWV5Zz09

Please review the following competition documents:

DHCD 2024-26 HSNH Guidelines

Competition Timeline and Process

Project Application Instructions

Base Project Application

Coordinated Entry Application

FY25 Project Budget Template

FY25 Proposed Match Form

2022-23 Project Performance Measurements

2023-2024 GRCoC Funding Priorities

Coordinated Entry System MoU Letter of Intent

FY25 Scoring Form