A local agency and its plans to establish a new youth homeless shelter are getting an assist from the city of DeKalb.

The DeKalb City Council this week approved a measure to reallocate $50,000 in leftover federal Community Development Block Grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to Family Service Agency of DeKalb County’s Roots to Rise Transitional Youth Shelter.

Council action in an 8-0 vote provides for an amendment to the city’s 2024 annual action plan, which outlines the implementation of that year’s funding priorities, city documents show. The CDBG funds came to the city under a HUD-approved Consolidated Plan, effective 2020 through 2024.

City Manager Bill Nicklas said the city has an opportunity to make a difference in the community.

“There is about $50,000 in unspent 2024 HUD funds, CDBG funds that could also be repurposed for such an amendment and would help with the acquisition and the outfitting of [what] was once, a long time ago, a three-story house,” Nicklas said.

Nicklas said work on the new homeless shelter is about to start.

“It’s got to be broken up appropriately into units that would be for individual youth,” Nicklas said.

But it remains unclear when the city’s share of federal funding will make its way to Family Service Agency of DeKalb County.

“That might delay our contribution in this particular project,” Nicklas said. “But that’s not something the council controls. That something is being controlled at the federal level right now.”

First Ward Alderwoman Carolyn Zasada expressed her support for the project.

“I’m just thrilled to be able to support FSA in doing this project,” Zasada said. “It’s been long needed.”