Yuma approves $480,887 for housing, homeless outreach and community services

Yuma City Council approved $480,887 in federal funding agreements on October 7, 2026, covering rental assistance, accessible housing, homeless outreach, meals, mobile health care, fair-housing services and improvements to a junior high school's industrial arts shop.

The City’s record for MC 2026-162 marks the motion passed, and KYMA reported unanimous approval. The action authorizes the City Administrator to execute seven agreements. It does not, by itself, establish that contracts have been signed, grants paid or new enrollment opened.

Where the money goes

Six agreements total $323,887 from the Community Development Block Grant program, or CDBG. The remaining $157,000 comes from the HOME Investment Partnerships Program. Both are federal housing and community-development programs administered locally.

Catholic Community Services: $157,000 in HOME funding. The tenant-based rental assistance agreement calls for helping 16 low-income households, giving priority to domestic violence survivors leaving Safe House. Funds can cover rent, rental and utility deposits, and the work needed to deliver assistance. Its budget separates $126,000 in direct assistance from $31,000 in program delivery, including intake, eligibility checks and inspections. The schedule calls for eight household placements by June 30, 2027, and eight more by June 30, 2028.

Housing America Corporation: $90,500 in CDBG funding. The money pays for accessibility improvements to two existing units at Colorado Street Apartments, a 32-unit complex serving low-income households. It does not create two additional apartments. The agreement calls for bids by December 31, 2026, contractor selection by March 31, 2027, and completion of the accessibility work by June 15, 2027.

Achieve Human Services: $79,163 in CDBG funding. Street outreach will provide basic-needs assistance, assessments, connections to community resources and help obtaining identification documents. The agreement targets 40 people experiencing homelessness by December 31, 2026, and 80 cumulatively by June 30, 2027. It requires outreach logs, referral records and documentation of assistance.

Yuma Elementary School District One: $70,000 in CDBG funding. The legal recipient is the school district; the project is restoration of Gila Vista Junior High School's industrial arts shop in the Mesa Heights Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area. Work includes windows, heating and cooling, and flooring. Installation is scheduled for completion by March 31, 2027, with the shop ready for student use by June 15. The agreement requires competitive procurement and inspection records.

Crossroads Mission: $40,000 in CDBG funding. Its Nutritional Wellness Program will purchase protein- and fiber-rich foods for meals at the emergency shelter. The target is 300 unduplicated low- and moderate-income people served by June 30, 2027. That number counts people, rather than the total number of meals. The entire grant budget is for food supplies.

Onvida Health Yuma Medical Center: $29,224 in CDBG funding. The Mobile Equity Project will provide medical assessments, chronic-disease monitoring and referrals in Mesa Heights for low- to moderate-income residents. The agreement calls for serving 100 residents by December 31, 2026, continuing weekly mobile services, and reaching approximately 600 residents by June 30, 2027. The schedule also contains a 500-person milestone with the same June 30 deadline; the final target is 600. The documents do not establish a current clinic route or appointment schedule.

Southwest Fair Housing Council: $15,000 in CDBG funding. Its education, outreach, testing and enforcement program serves all City of Yuma residents. Required work includes a digital advertisement, a Neighborhood Leadership Academy presentation, ten fair-housing tests, and education and outreach events by June 30, 2027. These services are separate from rental subsidies.

Who can get help, and how

Eligibility depends on the program. Rental assistance requires documented income eligibility, leases, assistance agreements and unit inspections. The posted agreement does not supply a current household-size income table, benefit amount or open-enrollment announcement. Priority for Safe House residents does not establish that every other low-income applicant is ineligible.

For rental-assistance inquiries, the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce’s CCS listing gives the agency's local number as 928-341-9400. Ask about current intake, eligibility, available placements and referrals; the listing is not confirmation that this grant is accepting applications.

For homelessness assistance, Achieve’s locations page lists its corporate office at 928-341-0335; ask for the outreach program. Crossroads Mission’s contact page lists its kitchen at 928-328-1718 and main number at 928-783-9362. Call to confirm meal access and current hours.

People seeking help with housing discrimination can contact Southwest Fair Housing Council at 520-798-1568 or 602-218-6491. Its website offers a reporting link and says services are by appointment. The school and apartment awards pay for improvements to specified properties, rather than cash benefits available through a general application.

For program referrals, current eligibility rules or the Mesa Heights mobile clinic schedule, contact City Neighborhood Services at 928-373-5187 or [email protected]. The City's Neighborly portal handles grant reporting and home-repair applications; the reviewed page does not identify it as the application portal for these rental-assistance slots.

Approval, payments and oversight

The six CDBG agreements cover July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. The HOME rental-assistance agreement runs through June 30, 2028. These dates are contractual schedules, not evidence that each service began July 1. The posted copies have blank signature blocks. Executed contracts, payment ledgers and current enrollment figures were not available in the records reviewed through October 8.

Payments are based on reimbursement requests for eligible, authorized expenses and supporting documentation. Agreements require quarterly performance reporting and provide for payment within 30 days of complete, verified requests. Client eligibility records, invoices, service logs and construction inspections give the City and HUD a basis to check spending and results. The HOME agreement also requires remote and on-site City monitoring.

The council item's fiscal table assigns $0 in City funds. Separately, HUD’s HOME guidance describes a general non-federal match requirement of 25 cents per HOME dollar, with eligible contributions and possible reductions. The City’s Consolidated Plan says the county HOME consortium will use eligible non-federal contributions and match-eligible activities as applicable. The records do not identify the specific match arrangement for this award, so the $0 City-funds entry should not be read as a waiver of all HOME matching requirements.

What the records still leave unanswered

Some services predate this vote. The City’s 2025 Annual Action Plan describes continuing CCS rental assistance and fair-housing activities. This package combines support for existing services with specific improvement projects. The reviewed records do not establish whether the new outreach and Mesa Heights mobile-clinic agreements expand earlier programs or how many additional people they can accommodate.

One funding difference needs clarification. The Consolidated Plan lists $123,792.21 for CCS rental assistance, $33,207.79 less than the $157,000 agreement approved October 7. The plan describes contingency allocations that could increase rental assistance if proposed housing developments did not receive low-income housing tax credits. The October staff report does not explain how the larger award was reconciled with those provisions.

Final October 7 minutes and a roll-call record were not posted on the City’s meeting page when reviewed. The available documents establish passage, but do not independently resolve whether council added conditions during the meeting. Also outstanding are current application availability, waitlists, mobile-clinic stops, actual reimbursements and progress against the service targets. Those records will show what the approved funding delivers.