Pomona could accept nearly $2.7 million in federal funding for permanent supportive housing next week. The money will help pay rent for people who are unhoused with disabilities.

What the city’s report does not say is how many people will receive that help.

The City Council will consider the $2,684,269 grant during its meeting on Monday, October 5. The item is on the consent calendar, so it could be approved without a separate public discussion unless a councilmember pulls it.

The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care program. It would fund Pomona’s Permanent Supportive Housing program from January 1 through December 31, 2027.

This is a renewal of an existing rental assistance program. It is not money for constructing housing.

The federal agreement assigns $2,569,428 to rental assistance and $114,841 to administration. It assigns nothing to acquiring property, rehabilitating apartments, new construction or operating costs.

Rental assistance is still housing assistance. It can keep someone housed even when a disability or limited income makes market rent impossible to afford. But the distinction matters in a city where housing remains scarce and expensive. This grant helps pay for housing that already exists. It does not add housing to the market.

Pomona must also provide a $671,068 match using eligible local or state resources. The staff report does not identify the sources of that match or say how much will be cash and how much, if any, will be provided through staff time or other in-kind contributions.

There are other questions in the paperwork.

The staff report says $42,000 will be awarded to Volunteers of America Los Angeles for a life-skills program. The HUD agreement, however, lists the entire $2,569,428 program allocation as rental assistance and shows zero dollars for supportive services.

That does not necessarily mean the $42,000 is being spent improperly. It means the two documents do not explain how the life-skills payment fits within the approved federal budget.

The city says the budget amendment will increase revenue estimates and spending authority by $2,223,835, rather than the full $2,684,269 award. But the table in the same report lists adjustments that net to a $1,552,767 decrease in revenue and a $1,552,767 increase in appropriations. The report does not reconcile those figures.

Pomona uses four organizations to identify and refer people to the program: Volunteers of America Los Angeles, Foothill AIDS Project, Tri-City Mental Health Authority and Prototypes.

Eligible participants include people experiencing homelessness with permanent disabilities and families in which an adult or child has a permanent disability. The referring organizations work with people living with HIV, people experiencing mental-health conditions and women and families affected by substance use, mental illness or domestic violence. The report describes who may qualify. It does not describe the program’s current reach.

The report does not provide a current number of participating households, adults, children or total people housed. It does not say how many people entered housing during the present grant year, how many remained housed or whether any rental assistance went unused.

A 2023 HUD housing inventory listed Pomona’s program at 139 beds: 59 family beds and 80 adult-only beds. The report going before the council does not provide an updated figure.

The 2027 award is also $9,180 lower than the $2,693,449 Pomona received for the same program in 2026. The difference is small, but the city does not say whether it will affect the number of people served.

The council is not being asked to create a new housing program. It is being asked to renew one that already exists and authorize the city manager to execute the agreements and any later amendments needed to operate it.

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