An experimental yet successful Colorado Springs Municipal Court resource-navigation table where people who are homeless or recently incarcerated can pick up information about how they can obtain housing, food, identification and other necessities will remain staffed inside the courthouse.

Lawyers will continue to represent seniors and disabled residents facing eviction.

Two new Early Head Start classrooms at Pikes Peak State College are on their way to helping youngsters from low-income households get ready for school.

These and other projects have been awarded competitive grants under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development programs designed to assist low- and moderate-income individuals and families. 

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A total of $750,000 has been distributed to 13 Colorado Springs nonprofits, faith-based organizations and government agencies, the city of Colorado Springs announced Thursday.

Of about 40 applicants, 13 organizations and agencies received grants under two HUD programs, said Naomi Clark, compliance analyst with the city who manages the Community Development Block Grant program.

The city recently disbursed $450,000 as part of the Community Development Block Grant Public Services Awards and awarded another $300,000 under HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grant Awards for homeless shelters, prevention efforts and a tracking system. The latter received the largest grant of $100,000. 

One organization, Kingdom Builders, which works with domestic violence and sexual assault survivors, received a grant in each category to fund a youth violence prevention program as well as rapid rehousing for domestic violence victims.

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Housing instability was a key focus in deciding which organizations and projects received funding this year, as city leaders have identified preventing homelessness, increasing housing choices and improving public safety as community priorities, Clark said.

“It’s extremely competitive,” she said, “and these applications are not short — they’re incredibly intensive.”

It’s also a community effort in deciding who gets what. Two citizen committees averaging 10 to 15 people each — from a nonprofit chief financial officer to a stay-at-home mom — reviewed the applications, she said.

Programs from preventing homelessness for families and children to counseling for youth offenders and therapy for substance-abuse disorder and behavioral health needs were selected.

Colorado Legal Services will use its $48,000 allotment to pay for staff members who advocate for elderly and disabled residents to stay housed, said Ariel Baty, managing attorney for the Colorado Springs office of the statewide agency.

“We work with people facing eviction who have no other resource,” she said. “El Paso County has so much need; eviction filings have gone up and up, and it’s so important people find help and that they’re not wrongfully evicted.”

The organization’s housing team closed 614 cases last year, Baty said.

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Child Partnership for Community Development, also known as CPCD, the local Head Start administrator, received $35,000 to pay for staffing new classrooms at the local community college.

“These classrooms provide child care for low-income families and serve 16 children birth to age 3 and also provide medical, dental, behavioral health and family support services,” said President and CEO Steven Lewis. The grant “generally funds projects that provide social services and other direct assistance to individuals or households,” he said.

In all, the city gets about $5 million annually from HUD, with the majority not being put out for bid in a competitive process but funding static programs such as housing initiatives, Clark said.

Another recipient of federal HUD funding is the Pikes Peak Continuum of Care, a group of homeless service providers, government officials and residents, which received $2.8 million from HUD in February to address homelessness in the community.

El Paso County also distributes HUD funding for qualifying programs, including capital projects. The county’s board of commissioners approved in July a plan for nine charities, faith-based organizations and municipalities to spend grants totaling $914,000 for programs and projects addressing public services for vulnerable populations, economic development, housing and infrastructure.