OMAHA- The Omaha City Council approved more than $340,000 in grants to address homelessness and rapid rehousing at a meeting earlier this week.

Four area agencies and shelters were allocated money by the city through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant.

The Siena Francis House was awarded $167,487 to provide emergency shelter for about 3,500 people experiencing homelessness. The agency, at 17th and Nicholas Streets, is Nebraska’s largest provider of services to individuals experiencing homelessness.

Heartland Family Services was allocated $68,221 for the rapid rehousing of homeless individuals and families.

The nonprofit Together was given $63,221 to provide rapid rehousing.

And the Stephen Center, at 2723 Q St., received $45,000 to be used for emergency shelter.

In its annual count, the Metro Area Continuum of Care found that 1,405 people in Omaha and Council Bluffs were homeless on Jan. 22.

About 900 people are on a housing waitlist on any given day in Douglas, Sarpy, and Pottawattamie Counties, and of those 300 to 400 are chronically homeless, the Metro Area Continuum of Care estimates.

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