ANDERSON — The City of Anderson took a step this week toward helping the community’s homeless population.
The administration of Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr. awarded $900,000 in American Rescue Plan funding to Aspire Indiana Health.
The award was recommended by the city’s committee on the homeless during the appropriation of American Rescue Plan funds. The $900,000 earmarked to help with the homeless population was approved in the plan by Anderson City Council.
City council last week voted to provide $250,000 to the city’s Homeless Task Force, which was created this year.
Aspire Indiana “is a nonprofit, fully integrated ‘whole health’ provider with wide-ranging services including primary medical care, behavioral health, substance use disorder and programs addressing social drivers of health,” according to the organization’s website.
Broderick said Tuesday that Aspire will provide homeless services to address mental health, substance abuse and housing.
The Anderson Community Development Department is working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to secure $1.4 million to purchase housing for the homeless, the mayor said.
“We wanted an agency that has been involved with providing outreach services to the homeless population,” Broderick said, noting that the federal funds could be available by April.
He noted that housing will also be purchased with funds available to make needed repairs.
Broderick said his administration considered utilizing a school building not currently used by Anderson Community Schools to help the homeless. But the building was not within city limits.
“The funds had to be spent in the city,” he explained.
Terms of the two-year agreement with Aspire include the city providing a house from the Community Development Department at 718 W. 17th Street for transitional housing for a family with children.
The contract provides $528,138 for outreach services to include the hiring of two outreach workers, one peer review worker, a case manager and a part-time public safety officer.
It also provides $371,864 for housing to include the hiring of a housing navigator to help find affordable housing for homeless families.
The programs have to start by April 1, 2025, and be completed by April 30, 2027, according to American Rescue Plan rules.
Aspire Indiana operates several medical care and substance abuse centers in Anderson, including the Mockingbird Hill Recovery Center and the DeHaven Mental Health Clinic.
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