NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk city council members are expected to accept a federal grant to build low-cost housing in the community.
Some say finding an affordable place to live in Norfolk hasn’t been easy lately. The cost of homes and rent continues to grow but it's a problem Norfolk city leaders are working to address.
The money is a $4.5 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Susan Perry, who is the director of Norfolk’s Department of Housing and Community Development, said the money will go toward meeting the housing and service needs of people experiencing homelessness.
“Affordable housing is an important need in the city as is it all over the county," Perry said. "This supplemental money from HUD is going to help us build additional affordable housing and provide supportive services for our most vulnerable populations and those experiencing homelessness.”
Norfolk City Manager Chip Filer said on the table for this money is building transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness.
“One of the areas that we are looking to try and make the most headway in as possible is transitional current homeless individuals into transitional housing for ultimately placement in permanent housing," Filer said. “What we’ve learned is that if you miss and try to go straight from homelessness to permanent housing, oftentimes that slips and the individual becomes homeless again.”
Filer said as the city works to address concerns from citizens over the high cost of living, federal funds play a big role in solving the problem.
“Those funds are critical to addressing affordable housing in our city, as with most urban cities," Filer said. “Our community services board – our CSB – is extremely aggressive in trying to help our homeless population, one of the areas we’re trying to move into more is transitional housing.”
Filer is presenting the budget to the city council on Tuesday night. In that budget is more money allocated toward affordable housing.