Last week, we unveiled a plan to invest the city of Orlando’s funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to help address two of the most complex challenges in our region: homelessness and affordable housing.
We’re calling this plan “Accelerate Orlando,” because our focus on homelessness and affordable housing isn’t new. What is new, is the opportunity $58 million in federal funding gives us, to make a once-in-a-generation investment to accelerate these efforts.
Right now, we’re housing close to 400 previously homeless residents in permanent, supportive housing. And over the past few years, we’ve invested more than $43 million to create or preserve housing options for residents at all income levels, helping more than 2,000 families have a safe place that they can afford to call home.
While we’ve made great strides, we know there is more to do, and we’re poised to leverage this federal funding to accelerate those efforts.
We plan to invest in Orlando’s trusted service providers, including the Christian Service Center, Salvation Army and Coalition for the Homeless, to modernize their campuses, offer more wrap-around services and grow daytime operations, which means fewer unsheltered neighbors on our streets. Taken together, this represents the most significant investment in our city’s history to help care for those experiencing homelessness.
