PEORIA, Ill. – The city of Peoria is providing more funding to reimburse a non-profit organization that’s housing homeless people in a motel.
City council on Tuesday night approved up to $64,000 to reimburse LULA Peoria for such costs, to extend funding through the end of July. This is the third time the city has provided such funding.
Community Development Director Joe Dulin says 46 people are currently in the motel, but expects that number to go down to 17 people by the first week of July. He says the extension is to figure out what to do with those 17 people, especially after a lot of trust has been built up.
“We’d hate for them to go back on the streets and lose track of them while we’re so close to finding a permanent housing solution with them,” Dulin said.
Dulin says it’s possible the 17 people could have additional barriers to housing that may or may not be overcome by the end of July.
Overall, Dulin estimates that 108 people have gone through the program, with housing found for at least 70 people. He says the city has also learned numerous lessons in case more people need to be housed in the future.
Second District Councilman Alex Carmona praised LULA for its efforts at the meeting. But he also urged churches, businesses, and other non-profits to help out LULA.
“Their passion is there, they are doing this out of the goodness of their heart, at great cost to their own personal lives,” Carmona said.
Fifth District Councilman Denis Cyr says while he supports the funding, he wants to see regulations on how the money is given out.
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