Nevada County is hoping to once again tap into the Newsom administraton’s homeless housing initiative, known as Homekey. The idea of the program is to purchase and rehabilitate buildings, converting them into permanent, long-term units. The county’s Housing and Child Services Director, Mike Dent, says they received about two-million dollars from the first round, nearly a year ago, to help rennovate a former motel, on South Auburn Street, in Grass Valley, into what’s now called the Empire Mine Courtyard apartments…

click to listen to Mike Dent

Community Block Grant funding is also being used. Dent says the county is applying for the just-released second round of Homekey funding to look for another project, or possibly multiple projects. Meanwhile, the Board of Supervisors is expected to pass a resolution at their Tuesday meeting to accept another 285-thousand dollars from the state general fund for what’s known as Project Room Key. Dent says it’s been providing non-congregate shelter for pandemic victims…

click to listen to Mike Dent

Since the pandemic began, the county, along with an array of community partners, has provided over 200 unduplicated homeless households with interim accomodations at local hotels.