Federal cuts close Fresno housing projects, placing dozens at risk of homelessness
Two projects providing long-term housing and support services will close next month due to federal funding cuts, leaving around 80 formerly homeless individuals at risk of living on the streets again.
Tenants of Stasis Center at 4135 E. Olive Ave. and Falcon Court at 4415 N. Clark St. recently received a 60-day exit notice. The sites will close on Jan. 31 as federal policy shifts away from providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness and toward short-term, transitional housing.
“The loss of that availability in our community is huge,” Katie Wilbur, vice chair of the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care, said. “We’re trying to exit people from shelters, and we’re trying to end people’s stay in homelessness, and while we’re doing that, we’re losing the resources we need to be able to do that successfully.”
The housing projects are managed by Turning Point of Central California and had been funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) program, the largest federal funding source for homeless services. Both are supportive housing projects eligible for people who have experienced chronic homelessness or have some type of permanent disability.
In November, HUD capped funding for permanent supportive housing programs at 30%. Of the approximately $14 million in HUD funds allocated to the Fresno-Madera region last year, about 70% was used for permanent housing, according to Wilbur.
Historically, HUD and the CoC NOFO funding has been stable, so it was considered best practice to use a majority of the HUD funds towards permanent supportive housing, Wilbur said. A 2020 systematic review of 26 studies shows that permanent supportive housing programs decreased homelessness by 88% and improved housing stability by 41%, compared to short-term, transitional programs.
Dylan McCully, Fresno County’s homelessness program manager, said that compared to previous local efforts, the change in priority marks a departure from past approaches and perspectives to combating homelessness in the region.
Between government shutdown-related delays and the funding cuts, the Fresno-Madera region is expected to lose about $5 million in funding, according to a Fresno County news release.
“To have that kind of table flipped on you certainly extremely disruptive to our community, disheartening, devastating,” Wilbur said. “It’s really going to negatively impact the long term stability of our community.”
The Stasis Center program was designed to encourage mentally ill individuals to develop independent living skills, maintain stable functioning and to work toward economic self-sufficiency. The 16-unit complex had 24-hour staffing, according to the Turning Point website.
Falcon Court provides permanent supportive housing to 34 disabled, chronically homeless individuals and six chronically homeless families. The program also offers case management, life skills training, education and employment assistance, connections to community resources, and financial counseling, according to the Turning Point website.
“What this type of housing has really done is brought together the permanent affordability as well as the services that we know people need to receive in order to stay safely housed,” Wilbur said. “If you’re experiencing homelessness, you need services. There’s a reason you became homeless, and there’s something that you need from the services to help you stay housed. And so that’s really what permanent supportive housing has historically been able to bring together.”
The county and the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care are currently exploring options and working to provide other programs to tenants in order to mitigate the impacts.
Shortly after HUD announced the funding changes, Governor Newsom, alongside a multistate coalition, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, calling the restrictions unlawful.
This story was originally published December 9, 2025 at 12:13 PM.