Permanent Supportive Housing
Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is defined as “a cost-effective combination of permanent, affordable housing with services that help people live more stable, productive lives.” For more information about PSH in St. Louis, download the Corporation for Supportive Housing’s “Report to the St. Louis Partnership for Mental Health and Housing Transformation Grant”.
PSH works well for people who face the most complex challenges – individuals and families who are not only homeless, but who also have very low incomes and serious, persistent issues that may include substance use, mental illness and HIV/AIDS.
In conjunction with the Corporation for Supportive Housing’s report, St. Louis set the goal of providing 1,227 units of PSH, of which 882 were to be specifically set aside for populations with serious mental illness who are homeless or who may be at risk of homelessness.
Since FY11, Saint Louis MHB has supported this goal through the offering of funds, usually in the form of 10-year forgivable loans, to support the development of PSH through either renovating existing infrastructure or through construction of new sites that provide behavioral health services in conjunction with PSH. To date, MHB has awarded nearly $2.9 million for 15 sites dedicating 170 units of permanent supportive housing.