Columbia, Mo., has created a new department to help fight homelessness and affordable housing, the Columbia Daily Tribune reports.
The city's new Housing and Neighborhood Services Department will include code enforcement, housing counseling, education, new owner-occupied housing construction, rental housing units, and more.
"The hope is to get creative, and by creating a department that can focus on these issues in particular, we can figure out new ways to address affordable housing and the housing crisis," says director Rebecca Thompson.
The new department will administer two federal grants, one for community development and one for home investment.
"Each year we apply for Community [Development] Block grant funds and Home [Investment] funds," says Randy Cole, CEO of the Columbia Housing Authority.
"We're very encouraged to see the city's progress on their new department."
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