The program occupies two townhouses on the Baltimore Station's Baker Street campus and offers free housing, meals, clothing and hygiene supplies alongside case management and therapeutic programming. It is open to women veterans who are homeless and unemployed, with move-ins expected at the end of October.

The review comes amid broader scrutiny of how rental housing is inspected in Baltimore. The full Baltimore Sun report is available to subscribers.

The federal government's proposed budget cuts to HUD (Housing and Urban Development) funding could have devastating consequences for Baltimore's most vulnerable residents. Up to 1,000 individuals currently living in permanent supportive housing may face displacement if these cuts are implemented. Organizations like Community Housing Associates have expressed deep concern about the potential impact on residents who rely on stable housing to maintain their health, employment, and overall quality of life. Permanent supportive housing has been a critical tool in Baltimore's efforts to combat homelessness and provide long-term stability for individuals and families. The cuts threaten to reverse years of progress in addressing homelessness in Baltimore City. Housing advocates are calling on federal lawmakers to reconsider these budget reductions and protect funding for permanent supportive housing programs that serve the community's most vulnerable populations. Originally aired as a WMAR-2 News video segment (2:06), previously featured on the CHA homepage.

Councilmember Odette Ramos convened the discussion at Baltimore Unity Hall with representatives from the National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, and Enterprise Community Partners. Panelists warned that continued uncertainty over federal Continuum of Care funding, following the summer's court fight over HUD's FY2026 NOFO, makes local planning for shelter and housing programs increasingly difficult.

The editorial traces the mold and pest problems back to the city's 2024 decision to convert several downtown hotels into shelters using American Rescue Plan Act funds, arguing that speed took priority over long-term facilities planning. It calls for the City Council to require regular third-party inspections of all shelter sites and for the Mayor's Office of Homeless Services to publish maintenance records publicly.

The IG report detailed mushroom growth and mold inside at least one of the hotels the city purchased for more than $15 million in federal ARPA funds to house the homeless, alongside plumbing and ventilation failures at other sites.

The Fair Chance Housing Act (SB 937) limits how providers with five or more units may use criminal history in tenant screening. SB 335/HB 315 protects applicants who use housing subsidies from discrimination and requires providers to offer tenants the option to report positive rent payment history to credit agencies. SB 12 requires certain units in buildings with 10 or more units to keep cooling capability at 80 degrees or lower between June 1 and September 30.

The Infill and Redevelopment pool offers $30,000 per LIHTC-restricted unit up to $500K and $50K per unit up to $1M in Rental Housing Financing Program funds. The General Pool offers LIHTC at $30,000 per unit up to $1.5M (or $28,000 per unit up to $2M) and $2.5M in RHFP funds, with up to $500,000 in HOME funds for select non-entitlement counties.

Eligible projects must reuse a formerly state- or federally-owned college, hospital, or military facility, and can receive a credit of up to 20% of eligible costs, capped at $15 million. Applications are due by October 1, 2026, and proposals must incorporate historic preservation and demonstrated community need alongside any housing component.

Written comments and hearing requests were due September 13, ahead of DHCD's continued effort to expand its multifamily bond financing pipeline under the Housing Starts Here Executive Order, which calls for Maryland to roughly double its housing production rate over the next five years to keep pace with population growth.

The funding will flow to nonprofit housing counseling agencies helping renters and homeowners navigate eviction prevention, foreclosure counseling, and fair housing complaints. It builds on the department's broader FY2027 push to pair direct housing production with tenant-facing support services.

The NOFO proposed a $1.3 billion set-aside for new transitional housing and supportive services projects and would reduce protected renewal funding from roughly 90% to 60%, while emphasizing transitional housing over permanent supportive housing. NACo asked HUD to extend the deadline so stakeholders have time to review. As of October 1, HUD's program page still lists the September 30, 8:00 PM ET deadline with no general extension, so the application window has closed for most applicants. HUD's page notes one exception: the CA-600 Continuum of Care has an extended deadline of October 14, 2026.

Counties and local Continuums of Care that had already begun preparing FY2026 applications are now waiting on HUD's next move, with some warning that a delayed NOFO could push award announcements, originally expected by December 1, well into 2027.

The notice proposes bonus payments and other incentives tied to performance measures emphasizing rapid, permanent rehousing rather than transitional models. Public comments are due October 13, and the notice is widely seen as HUD's first step toward crafting a revised CoC competition after its original approach was struck down in court.

The court found HUD failed to give public notice or solicit comment before diverting CoC funds toward transitional and service-heavy models, as required by law. The ruling erases the FY2026 NOFO and its August 26 application deadline entirely, leaving thousands of homeless services projects nationwide in limbo while HUD decides whether to appeal.

In 2024, more than 60% of Continuum of Care awards went to permanent supportive housing and about 1% to transitional housing, the AP reports. It cites a permanent supportive housing project in Corbin, Kentucky that was cancelled and a Louisville provider converting 120 apartments to transitional housing. The AP also reports that the proposed budget would eliminate the $4 billion Continuum of Care program. Nearly 750,000 people were homeless last year, down slightly from 2024 but up 31% from 2019.

The report calls for expanded federal rental assistance and warns that proposed cuts to permanent supportive housing funding, the subject of the ongoing HUD/CoC court fight, could reverse recent gains in moving chronically homeless individuals into stable housing.

The report adds San Antonio to a growing list of metro areas, including Atlanta and Los Angeles, where 2026 data shows homelessness climbing even outside the traditional high-cost coastal markets, underscoring how broadly housing affordability pressure has spread this year.

Unsheltered homelessness climbed 3.3% countywide and 7.9% within the city, fueled partly by more people living in RVs. Downtown LA's Skid Row saw the sharpest jump, with its count rising 23% from 3,427 in 2025 to 4,215 in 2026, reversing several years of modest citywide progress.