The Continuum of Care is an annual funding competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Continuum of Care funds come from Federal McKinney-Vento Act dollars and are set aside to assist the nation’s homeless population through housing and service programs.

Unlike many federal grant programs, Continuum of Care funds are competitive, not block-granted. HUD examines a community’s homeless continuum of care, or progressive breadth of services for assistance to homeless persons. The Homeless Alliance of Western New York coordinates the process that selects which local projects will go forward in the competition for possible federal funding and assembles Erie County’s application for these funds.

In the past six years, the Homeless Alliance is proud to have brought over fifty million dollars into Erie County for homeless housing and service programs. In addition to coordinating the Continuum of Care process, the Alliance manages HUD-mandated efforts including PRISM, the local ten-year plan to end long-term or chronic homelessness, and the Homeless Management Information System, BAS-Net.