2 area groups get homeless assistance grants

COLUMBUS -- Two Mahoning County organizations were among 92 groups awarded a combined 20.4 million from Ohio's Homeless Assistance Grant Program.
The Mahoning programs and the amounts they received are: Mahoning Catholic Charities Regional Agency, 216,000; and Mahoning Valley Dispute Resolution, 88,000.
Neighboring county organizations that received funding are: Ashtabula County Community Housing Development Organization, 185,500, and Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County, 100,000; and Jefferson County, Jefferson Behavioral Systems, 149,900.
No programs in either Trumbull or Columbiana counties received money through the Homeless Assistance Grant Program, which funds direct housing, emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, permanent supportive housing and transitional housing activities for low-income Ohioans.
The grants will assist approximately 107,125 people and are expected to leverage 37.5 million in private and public dollars, state officials said.
The Homeless Assistance Grant Program is funded by the Ohio Housing Trust Fund and the Emergency Shelter Grant Program and is administered by the Ohio Department of Development.