SAN ANTONIO – Conversations are starting across the city on how money should be spent in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, and there’s a push to tackle two major and connected issues: homelessness and affordable housing.
The most recent data in San Antonio found there are just under 3,400 people across the city experiencing homelessness. The data found that San Antonio’s unsheltered population grew by 1.6%, and the number of people in shelters is up by 8.8%.
That’s why Katie Wilson, the executive director of Close to Home, said she wants next year’s budget to focus on prevention.
“Let’s prevent this wherever possible so that we can keep things at a manageable level in our emergency services and be able to help everybody that’s already fallen into homelessness,” Wilson said.
City leaders seem to agree. On Tuesday afternoon, the city held a public meeting to discuss its 2025 HUD Annual Action Plan and Budget. The city receives four federal entitlement grants awarded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. These are the grants:
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Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
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HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME)
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Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG)
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Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
At the meeting, the city said it expects to receive approximately $23 million in total grant funding in FY 2025. The proposal focuses on two key areas: housing rehabilitation and affordable housing development.
Housing rehabilitation would help low-income residents with major repairs and reconstruction of homes. Affordable housing development would assist in creating new rental and for-sale housing options. The city has a goal of creating 700 new units of affordable housing with this funding in FY 2025.
The city’s plan also outlines funding from these grants for first-time homebuyer assistance, fair housing services, housing stabilization services, neighborhood revitalization case management, supportive services for addressing homelessness, parks and recreation summer youth and extended hours programs, and financial education programs.
The next meeting in this plan’s timeline is a community meeting on June 22. To see other meetings for this item, click here.