The City of Hinesville will be getting $1 million to help with its homeless issues.

The city has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the state Department of Community Affairs and initially, the grant was for a two-year period. But with the limited number of applications the DCA received, the timetable has been accelerated, Assistant City Manager Ryan Arnold said. The DCA also will renew the grant for the next three years, giving the city $1 million to spend on homelessness for the next four years.

“This is a first for the City of Hinesville,” City Manager Kenneth Howard said. “That is one million dollars to address homeless circumstances in the city. We are at the forefront of addressing a lot of the homeless situation we are faced with because it is not getting any easier.”

The initial $250,000 grant also had a $62,500 in-kind match for case management, financial assistance costs, food, transportation, short and medium term rent, and housing search and counseling.

Under the initial grant of $250,000, $120,000 is budgeted for short-to-medium term rent, with $40,000 slotted for financial assistance and $20,000 each for food and transportation.

The DCA grant funds come from the American Rescue Plan, and those funds have to be spent by 2030.

City council members also approved a resolution to submit the annual action plan to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which allows the city to receive community development block grants. CDBG funding is designed to help cities revitalize neighborhoods, expand affordable housing and economic opportunities and improve facilities and services for those residents deemed to be extremely low to moderate income.

The city’s 2025 allocation is $254,726, with no match required. The city plans to put $95,572 toward public infrastructure in low to moderate income areas, such as improvements in Wildwood Park. Another $50,000 will be directed toward owner- occupied housing rehabilitation and $20,000 will be used to start a program to deal with some of the blight in the city. Two public service agencies also are getting funding, with $14,209 going to Med-Bank and $24,000 directed to Senior Citizens, Inc.