The federal COVID Homelessness Emergency Response Program, or CHERP, is aimed at assisting localities with rapid re-housing services and homeless shelter operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Prince William Board of County Supervisors recently accepted, budgeted and appropriated a $1.3-million CHERP grant, through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, to go to the Prince William County Department of Social Service, or DSS.
- DSS will retain $500,000 from the grant to hire 10 temporary, grant-funded positions necessary to safely operate the 48-person emergency, temporary for persons experiencing homelessness shelter at the Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building on the east end of the county.
- DSS will distribute $363,470 to Action in Community Through Service, or ACTS, and $368,470 to Northern Virginia Family Service, or NVFS, for the rapid re-housing services those organizations provide.
- The remaining $110,886 will augment a previous $175,042 administrative CHERP grant.
CHERP grants do not require localities to match the funding. The County can carry over the funding into Fiscal Year 2022, which begins in July.
