The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) recently announced its intent to distribute approximately $15 million in state funds to local community agencies and organizations that will provide housing for Tennesseans living with behavioral health challenges, recovering from addiction or re-entering society from prison.
The funding, according to TDMHSAS, will be distributed by the department’s Creating Homes Initiative (CHI) to “grantees to develop safe, quality and affordable permanent supportive housing opportunities in the communities they serve.”
Since its creation in 2000, TDMHSAS’s CHI has leveraged more than $992 million to create 32,000 new housing opportunities across Tennessee. In recent years, the initiative expanded to housing people in recovery from addiction and re-entering communities from prison or jail, in addition to those living with mental illnesses.
The nearly $15 million in state funds being distributed by CHI will be spread across three different programs – Creating Affordable Housing, CHI 2.0, and CHI 3.0 – all with similar initiatives for providing housing to separate groups of Tennesseans in need.
“When you pair safe, quality, affordable housing with the wraparound supports available through these programs, people can begin a journey to a new life. It’s something we’ve seen countless times over the last two-plus decades of the Creating Homes Initiative,” TDMHSAS Commissioner Marie Williams, LCSW said in a statement. “We’re so grateful to Governor Lee and the legislature for their support, and we’re excited to see how this newest round of grantees leverages this funding to change the lives of the people they serve.”
Neru Gobin, TDMHSAS director of Housing and Homeless Services, added in a statement, “At the end of the day, we know this is having an exponential and generational impact for the people and families who are touched.”
Organizations and agencies interested in the state funds must submit an application through TDMHSAS’s website. The deadline for submitting an application is January 30th.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Woman Inside of Her Home” by Andrea Piacquadio.
