SLCoC Receives $3.8+ in HUD Funding

The Scranton/Lackawanna County Continuum of Care (SLCoC) was awarded $3,884,417 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in February 2023, the greatest amount the continuum has ever received.  The SLCoC receives annual funding through HUD’s annual Continuum of Care (CoC) Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) grant competition. Awards granted in February will support nineteen housing and homelessness prevention projects offered by six service providers in Scranton/Lackawanna County. These service providers include United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Catherine McAuley Center, Catholic Social Services, Community Invention Center, Valley Youth House, and the Women’s Resource Center.

The SLCoC is supported by an active Board of Directors who guide the continuum’s strategic planning and annual NOFO application.  The SLCoC’s board is comprised of the six SLCoC funded service providers and six other community partners, including Scranton Primary Health Care Center, City of Scranton – Office of Community Development, Lackawanna County – Department of Health & Human Services, North Penn Legal Services, Saint Joseph’s Center, and the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center.

Since 2008, the SLCoC has relied on this federal funding to work together to improve services for the homeless in our region.  The members monitor the characteristics and situations of the homeless population, identify strategies to prevent homelessness, rapidly house those who become homeless, and make homeless episodes as brief as possible.  CoC funded programs served more than 200 households and more than 450 people in 2023.

United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania (UNC) is the lead agency for the SLCoC and provides administrative support and technical assistance for all SLCoC funded programs and service providers. UNC is responsible for the completion and submission of the SLCoC’s CoC NOFO application, as well as Lackawanna County’s annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count and Housing Inventory Chart (HIC), which monitor the current state of homelessness and supportive housing programs in the region. 

The SLCoC’s Program Director is UNC’s Nathan Morgan, and the Board President is Joseph Hollander, CEO of Scranton Primary Health Center.

Pictured below: Harry Lyons, Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton Supervisor; Nicole Guzenski, Catherine McAuley Center Program Director; Nathan Morgan, Continuum of Care Program Director; Kylia Conaway, Continuum of Care Case Manager; Jessica Wallo, UNC Director of Community Services; Nancy Perri, Women’s Resource Center of NEPA Grants & Education Program Director; Nichole Rios, Valley Youth House Assistant Director.