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Homeless individuals and families across Alameda County received an early Christmas gift Saturday when congressional representatives notified them that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had awarded more than $11.7 million to programs serving the 9,000 to 15,000 homeless people who live in Alameda County.  

A number of programs in Berkeley will benefit from the funds:  

• The Berkeley Emergency Food and Housing Project’s $487,000 grant was renewed to support its transitional housing program. The program offers 24-month housing with structured support services to help clients move to stable permanent housing and to achieve self sufficiency. 

• The Homeless Employment Center’s grant of $1 million was renewed to provide employment and training services to 300 General Assistance recipients or those eligible for General Assistance. 

• The Alameda County Homeless Youth Collaborative received a renewal of its $621,700 award which provides housing for Berkeley youth in a two-bedroom transitional house and for Oakland youth in an eight-bed transitional house. An additional 570 youth will receive services through this program, which include outreach, life skills training, mental and physical health care, employment, childcare, skills training and more. Partners in the project include Chaplaincy to the Homeless, Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency, Berkeley Youth Alternatives and others. 

• The Peter Babcock House, on the Oakland-Berkeley border serves homeless individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The facility houses five individuals in a supported, community living environment. The program operated by Affordable Housing Associates, with services provided by BOSS, will receive $112,000 to renew its grant. 

• Bridget House was awarded a new grant for $138,000. It is operated by Berkeley’s Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center and is a transitional housing program with case management support for homeless women and children. During the program year, it houses 12-18 individuals, approximately six families with up to 12 children. 

• The city-run Shelter-Plus-Care program will receive a renewed grant of $1.4 million. This is a city project that partners with seven community-based organizations to place individuals in housing, assign case managers to their applicants and provide a variety of services before and after housing has been found. About 30 percent of the clients who use these services have been diagnosed with mental illness and another 30 percent are disabled by chronic substance abuse. An additional 40 percent are dually diagnosed. 

• The Berkeley Supportive Housing Network is a new program that provides housing for severely mentally ill homeless individuals. It received $313,000. 

• Another new program to get funding is the Berkeley Interfaith Youth Initiative. Twelve churches joined together to form the initiative which will receive $97,000. One of its purposes is to establish drop-in centers for homeless youth or youth at risk of homelessness. They centers, run by Jubilee Restoration, Inc., will be located in south and west Berkeley. 

• A $99,000 grant renewal will go to Bonita House, which serves homeless adults with a dual diagnosis of severe persistent mental disability and a history of substance abuse.