Countywide : $690,692 From State to Aid O.C. Shelters

The county has received a $690,692 grant for local shelters that are struggling this week to provide homeless people with refuges from freezing temperatures.

The grant, which comes from the California Department of Housing and Community Development under the State Emergency Shelter Program, can be used to buy shelter sites or equipment or for fixing up shelters.

“It’s wonderful to have this type of funding available,” said Susan Oakson, director of Orange County Homeless Issues Task Force. “It’s a large resource that gives the opportunity for local programs to access enough money to be able to purchase and rehabilitate facilities for the homeless.”

It will be late summer or early fall, however, by the time local agencies apply for shares of the grant and receive the money, Oakson said.

State grants are not the only funding source for local shelters, which usually use the money in combination with other funding to fix up or expand facilities, Oakson said.

Groups seeking grant money may submit applications by Jan. 11 to the county United Way office, 13252 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove 92643. The Emergency Food and Shelter Board will rank applications and submit them to the state in late February.

For information, call Gloria Moretta at the United Way, (714) 971-7300, Ext. 116.