HUD Grants $2 Million to Advance Research Efforts Tackling Homelessness

WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded a combined $1.4 million to Northern Arizona University and New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine under the University-Nonprofit Partnerships Engaged in Community-Based Research Designed to Address Homelessness Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to support research to address homelessness that engages affected communities and elevates the perspectives and insights of people with lived experience. Additionally, HUD awarded $600K to NYU Furman Center under the Authority to Accept Unsolicited Proposals for Research Partnerships Notice to conduct research to address the impact of homelessness on families.

“HUD is committed to working to ensure that everyone has access to a safe, stable place to call home and I’m pleased to see that today’s funding allows communities to research viable options to get people off the streets and into homes,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “HUD and the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to work with our local partners to work to end homelessness in communities across the country.”

“HUD continues to be on the frontlines of fighting and ending homelessness and today’s funding announcement helps with just that,” said Solomon Greene, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. “These research projects will help fill crucial knowledge gaps about solutions to end homelessness and help HUD, other federal agencies, and our state and local partners better understand the effectiveness of programs and interventions designed to address homelessness in communities.”

Grants for University-Nonprofit Partnerships Supporting Community-Engaged Research Designed to Address Homelessness

Under the Research Grant Designed to Address Homelessness, the Office of Policy Development and Research made available for institutions of higher education or nonprofit entities that train and support institutions of higher education to conduct research applying community-engaged research methods to address homelessness. Under this funding opportunity, HUD has selected two grantees to receive funding:

Northern Arizona University will receive $726,306 for a 3-year project, divided into three phases that will document what is known about encampment resolution strategies and their effectiveness in the three most populous Arizona counties (Maricopa, Pima, and Yuma) as well as the experiences and impact of encampment resolution strategies among people experiencing homelessness.

New York University (NYU) Grossman School of Medicine was awarded $631,902 to identify what services and housing resources are needed to better facilitate rapid transitions from homelessness to housing for adults aged 55 and older in New York City. The project aims to examine pathways from shelter to housing for older adults, including an examination of unique housing and/or support needs of this population, and to build capacity for community-engaged research at the intersection of health and housing.

Research Partnerships

Under the Research Partnerships program, the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) has the authority to accept unsolicited research proposals that address current research priorities of the Department. Through the Research Partnerships program, HUD has selected a new applicant for funding:

NYU Furman Center received $650,000 to estimate the impact of providing $1,000/month unconditional cash transfers for 12 months to families previously experiencing homelessness, who are exiting a rapid re-housing (RRH) program, on return to homelessness, housing stability, and rent burden, and explore mechanisms through which the cash transfers may impact these outcomes.