$100,000 grant offered to United Way to prevent homelessness in Ventura County

VENTURA, Calif. - The Amgen Foundation offered a $100,000 challenge grant to United Way of Ventura County Tuesday to help the organization generate housing for chronically homeless individuals.

United Way said that the money would be used to launch a landlord engagement pilot program which would increase housing stock and use existing housing vouchers and subsidies provided by local jurisdictions and community partners to prevent and end homelessness.

“Everyone needs a safe place to call home, yet that basic need is increasingly out of reach for many people in Ventura County," said Eric Harrison, President and CEO of United Way of Ventura County. "Limited affordable housing supply, extremely low vacancy rates, and prohibitive and rising rents, make home access for those with housing barriers exceedingly challenging.”

The challenge grant would also leverage the public support given through the $200,000 Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) grant given by the Ventura County Continuum of Care for United Way’s Landlord Engagement Pilot program.

United Way is a volunteer-driven organization whose goal is to help support Ventura County residents stabilize their education, income and health.