June 27, 2024

Central Pines Regional Council is awarded a $1.6M Youth Homelessness System Improvement grant award from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a Triangle Youth Assistance Coalition across Durham, Orange, Wake, and Chatham counties. 

The award was announced during a United States Housing and Urban Development (HUD) press conference held at the Central Pines Regional Council (CPRC) offices on June 6, with representatives from local governments and partner agencies in attendance. The Triangle Youth Assistance Coalition will be comprised of representatives from four different Continuums of Care - Durham, Orange, Wake, and Chatham (part of the Balance of State) counties - and aims to create a more seamless and coordinated system of care for youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness in the region. Through the development of Youth Action Boards, funding will also allow the Coalition to integrate voices of youth with lived experience to help shape systemic improvement around the youth homelessness ecosystem in the region. 

“When the Youth Homelessness System Improvement grant program was first announced, the Central Pines housing team knew that CPRC would be the ideal place to facilitate a multi-county application due to the program’s focus on system improvements beyond individual Continuums of Care and our mission to work across the region,” says CPRC Executive Director, Lee Worsley. “This award will allow CPRC to work with a range of project partners to create a regional response system for youth experiencing homelessness, decreasing barriers across jurisdictional boundaries.” 

“I am incredibly pleased the Central Pines Regional Council will receive $1.6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to address the rise in youth homelessness in our state and establish a regional response system across the Triangle,” said Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (NC-04). “Through this vital federal funding, the CPRC will play an integral role in connecting our local communities and developing strategic solutions to mitigate youth homelessness, ensuring more young unhoused North Carolinians have the safe, secure, and stable housing they need and deserve.” 

“CPRC is excited to work with partners within all four Continuums of Care and is thankful for their commitment and passion to supporting resources and better outcomes for those who are housing insecure. The Continuums of Care play a critical role in inching closer to ending homelessness on a local and regional scale,” says CPRC Community and Economic Development Director, Lindsay Whitson.

A full press release on the funding and all awarded projects is available here: YHSI Press Release.