Yuma approves nearly $481,000 for rental assistance, homeless services and neighborhood projects

Seven federally funded agreements include help for families struggling with rent, improvements to accessible housing, shelter meals, mobile health care and repairs to a junior high school workshop.

By Dan Bustard | Yuma Informed

Sixteen low-income households could receive help paying rent under a $480,887 funding package approved by Yuma City Council on October 7. Other projects will put money toward helping people experiencing homelessness, improving apartments for residents with disabilities and restoring an industrial arts shop at Gila Vista Junior High School.

The package also includes food for an emergency shelter, mobile medical services in Mesa Heights and help for residents facing housing discrimination.

Council approved seven agreements involving federal housing and community development funds. According to the City's legislative record, the motion passed. KYMA reported that the vote was unanimous.

The money is divided between two federal programs administered locally: $323,887 through the Community Development Block Grant program, commonly called CDBG, and $157,000 through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program.

The funding comes with specific obligations. Organizations must document their spending, report their progress and meet deadlines. Some projects are expected to be completed by next summer, while rental assistance continues into 2028.

For residents hoping to benefit, however, there is an important distinction. Council authorized the agreements. That does not necessarily mean applications are open, payments have started or services are already available.

Rental assistance gets the largest share

The biggest award goes to Catholic Community Services, which will receive $157,000 to help 16 low-income households obtain rental housing.

The program gives priority to survivors of domestic violence leaving Safe House. Assistance can cover rent, security deposits, utility deposits and related costs.

Of the total, $126,000 is designated for direct assistance. The remaining $31,000 covers the work involved in running the program, including determining eligibility, inspecting rental units and helping households through the process.

The agreement sets a two-year schedule: eight households are to be placed by June 30, 2027, with eight additional placements by June 30, 2028.

Priority for Safe House residents does not mean all other low-income households are excluded. The agreement requires applicants to meet income and housing eligibility rules, but the posted documents do not provide a current income-limit table, individual benefit amounts or an announcement that enrollment has opened.

Residents interested in the program can contact Catholic Community Services at 928-341-9400, according to its Yuma County Chamber of Commerce listing.

Callers should ask whether the program is accepting applications, what documentation is required and whether placements remain available.

Two apartments will become more accessible

Housing America Corporation will receive $90,500 to make accessibility improvements at Colorado Street Apartments, a 32-unit property serving low-income households.

The work covers two existing apartments.

That distinction matters. The project will improve housing already in place rather than add two more units to Yuma's housing supply.

Under the agreement, bids are scheduled by December 31, 2026, with a contractor selected by March 31, 2027. The accessibility work is expected to be finished by June 15, 2027.

The agreement also requires competitive bidding and documentation of the completed improvements.

More help for people living on the streets

Achieve Human Services will receive $79,163 for street outreach intended to connect people experiencing homelessness with assistance.

Some of that work addresses problems that can make getting help difficult in the first place.

Without identification documents, for example, a person may have trouble applying for benefits or accessing services. Achieve's agreement includes assistance obtaining those documents, along with basic necessities, assessments and referrals to community resources.

The program aims to reach 40 people by December 31, 2026, and 80 people in total by June 30, 2027.

Achieve must maintain outreach logs, referral records and documentation showing what assistance was provided.

Residents seeking information can contact Achieve at 928-341-0335, the corporate office number published on its locations page, and ask about homeless outreach services.

Gila Vista students could get their workshop back

The City also approved $70,000 for Yuma Elementary School District One to restore the industrial arts shop at Gila Vista Junior High School.

The project is located within the Mesa Heights Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area, one of the places where federal community development funds can support neighborhood improvements.

According to the agreement, the work includes replacing or improving windows, heating and cooling equipment, and flooring.

Installation is scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2027. The goal is to have the shop ready for student use by June 15.

The $70,000 goes to the school district for the specified improvements. It is not a grant available directly to students or families.

Shelter meals and mobile medical care

Two other awards address everyday needs that can be easy to overlook in a budget discussion.

Crossroads Mission will receive $40,000 to purchase food for its Nutritional Wellness Program at the emergency shelter.

The money is specifically intended for protein- and fiber-rich foods, with the entire grant budget allocated to food supplies.

The agreement sets a goal of serving 300 low- and moderate-income people by June 30, 2027.

That figure refers to 300 different individuals, not 300 meals. Someone receiving meals repeatedly counts as one person toward the target.

Crossroads Mission lists its kitchen number as 928-328-1718 and its main office as 928-783-9362. Residents can contact the organization to confirm meal availability and current serving hours.

Onvida Health Yuma Medical Center will receive $29,224 for its Mobile Equity Project, which brings medical services to low- and moderate-income residents in Mesa Heights.

Services include medical assessments, monitoring for chronic health conditions and referrals for additional care.

The agreement calls for reaching 100 residents by December 31, 2026, continuing weekly mobile services and serving approximately 600 residents by June 30, 2027.

There is a small inconsistency in the schedule. It also lists a 500-person milestone with the same June 30 deadline. The final stated target is approximately 600.

What the documents do not provide is a current schedule of clinic stops, appointment times or instructions for receiving care.

Residents looking for those details can contact the City's Neighborhood Services office at 928-373-5187.

Fair-housing assistance rounds out the package

The smallest award, $15,000, goes to Southwest Fair Housing Council.

Its job is different from that of organizations providing rent assistance or shelter services. The council helps residents understand their rights under fair-housing laws and addresses potential housing discrimination.

The agreement includes education, community outreach, testing and enforcement activities.

Among the required work are ten fair-housing tests, a digital advertisement, a presentation through the Neighborhood Leadership Academy and additional public education events. The activities are scheduled through June 30, 2027.

Unlike the projects tied to specific properties or neighborhoods, these services are intended for residents throughout the City of Yuma.

People who believe they have experienced housing discrimination can contact Southwest Fair Housing Council at 520-798-1568 or 602-218-6491. The organization also provides an online reporting option and says its services are available by appointment.

Approval is only the first step

The agreements establish what each organization is supposed to accomplish. They do not yet tell residents how much work has actually been completed.

The six CDBG agreements cover July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. The HOME rental-assistance agreement continues through June 30, 2028.

Those dates define the program periods. They do not prove that every service began on July 1.

Copies of the agreements available for review contained blank signature blocks. Records showing executed contracts, actual reimbursements and current enrollment figures were not available in the material reviewed through October 8.

Under the agreements, organizations generally request reimbursement after incurring eligible, authorized expenses. Those requests must include supporting records, and the City is expected to process complete, verified requests within 30 days.

Quarterly performance reports are also required.

For a construction project, that means invoices, procurement records and inspections. For outreach or rental assistance, the documentation includes eligibility records, service logs and other evidence showing that the work took place.

The HOME agreement also provides for remote and on-site City monitoring.

In other words, approval puts the funding framework in place. The reimbursement and reporting records should eventually establish what was delivered and what it cost.

One funding difference still needs an explanation

The Council item's fiscal table lists $0 in City funds for the package.

That does not necessarily mean federal matching requirements disappear.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development generally requires nonfederal contributions of 25 cents for every HOME dollar spent, subject to eligible contributions, exemptions and possible reductions.

The City's Consolidated Plan describes how the county HOME consortium expects to meet applicable matching requirements through eligible nonfederal contributions and qualifying activities.

The records reviewed do not identify the particular match arrangement for the $157,000 rental-assistance award. The City's $0 contribution entry therefore cannot, by itself, establish that no matching obligation applies.

There is another difference in the paperwork.

The Consolidated Plan lists $123,792.21 for Catholic Community Services rental assistance.

Council approved $157,000, an increase of $33,207.79 over that listed amount.

The plan does contain contingency provisions allowing additional money to be directed toward rental assistance if certain proposed housing developments failed to receive low-income housing tax credits.

That may help explain how the allocation could change. But the October 7 staff report does not establish whether those provisions account for the larger award.

The difference warrants clarification, particularly because the rental-assistance program represents the largest individual award in the package.

How residents can find out what is available

Anyone looking for help should contact the organization responsible for the relevant program rather than assume Council's approval means enrollment has begun.

Catholic Community Services can answer questions about rental-assistance eligibility and intake. Achieve Human Services handles the homeless outreach program, while Crossroads Mission can provide information about shelter meals.

Residents seeking the Mesa Heights mobile-clinic schedule, program referrals or more information about the funding agreements can contact City Neighborhood Services at 928-373-5187 or NeighborhoodServices@YumaAZ.gov.

The City's Neighborly portal handles some grant reporting and home-repair applications, but the reviewed information does not identify it as the application portal for the 16 rental-assistance placements.

The apartment and school awards are for improvements at specified properties, not financial assistance programs open to individual applicants.

What happens next

Several of the services in this funding package are not entirely new.

The City's 2025 Annual Action Plan describes continuing Catholic Community Services rental assistance and fair-housing activities.

What is less clear is how much additional capacity the new agreements will provide, particularly for homeless outreach and the Mesa Heights mobile medical program.

There are also records still to come.

When reviewed, the City's October 7 meeting page did not yet contain final minutes or a roll-call record. The available documentation establishes that the funding item passed, but does not independently confirm whether Council added conditions during the meeting.

Executed agreements, spending records, application availability, waitlists, mobile-clinic schedules and progress reports remain important pieces of the picture.

By June 2027, most of the organizations should have measurable results to report. The rental-assistance program has another year to complete its planned placements.

For now, the Council has approved nearly half a million dollars for seven projects with clearly stated goals.

The next test is whether those dollars reach the households, residents, students and neighborhoods they are intended to help.