True North Housing Alliance awarded $6.5 million grant from California Department of Housing and Community Development to support Howard Slater Navigation Center services for next 5 years

Photo courtesy of Modern Building Company, April 2025.

Chico, CA, May 20, 2025 >> True North Housing Alliance has been awarded a momentous $6,534,000 grant from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

True North Housing Alliance was one of only six organizations awarded statewide for the Housing Plus Support Program (HPSP), which is part of the state’s HOME Investments Partnerships American Rescue Plan (HOME-ARP), a federally funded program.

This significant award will allow the nonprofit to break down barriers to care by launching homelessness prevention services and expanding access to existing rapid rehousing services, providing them not only to Butte County but adjacent counties as well, says Taylor Bunch, Executive Director of True North Housing Alliance.

“The grant is really designed to reduce barriers to accessing services and expand the variety of services that folks can leverage and utilize,” Bunch says. “It will allow us to provide direct financial assistance for folks who have back-owed utilities bills or need help paying the security deposit on a new rental unit, for example, as well as wraparound support services like childcare and transportation assistance.”

With this grant, True North Housing Alliance now has the resources to partner with neighboring counties to help cover the cost of housing folks anywhere in the state (e.g., help with first month’s rent, security deposit, a moving truck rental, or other moving costs). Households within 30 percent of the area median income can qualify.

HPSP will cover homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing services for five years as part of services offered with True North's Howard Slater Navigation Center, as well as four positions for housing navigators and case managers. Service coordination efforts are ongoing, and the nonprofit is optimistic that services will be available by summer 2025.

A total of $26.4 million was awarded to six top-scoring applicants. Those eligible included nonprofit supportive service providers and Tribal Entities with experience providing case management and housing navigation services, according to a press release issued by HCD on April 30, 2025.

The grant awardees are as follows: True North Housing Alliance (Region 1: Northern California; Butte County) SHELTER, Inc. (Region 2: Bay Area; Solano County), Kings Community Action Organization (Region 3: Central California; Kings County), N.O.A.H.’s Foundation (Region 4: Greater Los Angeles; Los Angeles County), His Daughter’s House (Region 5: Southern California; Riverside County) and Yurok Indian Housing Authority (Tribal Target; Humboldt County).