This hub provides Built for Zero communities with clear, credible tools to communicate local impacts, support continuity in CoC renewals, and prepare for the next NOFO cycle.
Update (Feb. 4, 2026): Congress enacted FY 2026 HUD funding and included renewal safeguards for expiring CoC projects, plus deadlines for the FY 2026 CoC NOFO.
Please contact comms@community.solutions with any questions.
Table of Contents
Resources from Beyond the NOFO – Exploring Opportunities
Key Messages/Talking Points
Core Message
[ORG NAME] supports balanced, outcome-focused solutions that keep people housed, reduce homelessness (including unsheltered homelessness), strengthen public spaces, and improve long-term stability — and we back the federal investments and safeguards that make that possible.
Top Line
This week, President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan funding bill providing more than $77 billion for HUD — about a 10% increase over last year — alongside key protections that help communities preserve housing and prevent avoidable returns to homelessness.
This bill is a practical step that keeps people housed and prevents avoidable returns to homelessness, while communities continue to push for reforms that improve outcomes.
Messaging Guardrails
- Lead with outcomes, not ideology.
- Name the risk of churn (funding cliffs → housing loss → more homelessness).
- Connect housing stability to community stability (public spaces, local systems, local landlords).
- Don’t imply the problem is solved. Instead, frame this as an important step that protects progress.
Key Messages
- Stability prevents homelessness — and this bill protects stability.
This bipartisan funding package helps communities avoid sudden funding gaps that can push people back into homelessness, even after they’ve done the hard work of getting housed.
Proof points
- HUD funding totals more than $77 billion, about a 10% increase over last year.
- Homeless Assistance Grants total more than $4.4 billion, up $336 million.
2. Congress acted before the damage was done.
Communities raised the alarm early, and policymakers responded to evidence rather than waiting for a crisis to hit.
Proof points
- More than $100 million in CoC grant funding was set to expire in January 2026 alone.
3. The most important safeguard: automatic renewals to prevent a funding cliff.
This bill includes a specific protection that helps prevent people from losing housing because grants expire before new awards are ready.
Proof points
- HUD is required to automatically renew Continuum of Care grants expiring in the first quarter of 2026 for a 12-month period.
- Additional renewals are required if a new NOFO has not yet resulted in awards.
4. This is an investment in proven solutions.
When funding is disrupted, systems destabilize, and people fall back into crisis. This package helps communities keep effective programs intact while continuing to improve outcomes.
Proof points
- Funding includes:
- $4.01 billion for the Continuum of Care Program and Rural Housing Stability
- $290 million for Emergency Solutions Grants
- $107 million for Youth Homelessness Demonstration Projects
- At least $52 million supporting survivors of domestic violence
5. Protecting housing also protects local landlords and local systems.
When rental payments stay reliable, families stay housed, and communities remain stable. When people lose housing, costs shift elsewhere: hospitals, nursing homes, and Medicaid programs.
Proof points
- Earlier federal changes threatened rental support for more than 170,000 people who had overcome homelessness.
- More than $1.8 billion in rental payments to local mom-and-pop landlords was at risk.
6. Rental assistance renewals and transitions are a quiet but major win.
This package includes key funding and flexibility that can prevent avoidable housing loss for families relying on rental assistance.
Proof points
- $34.9 billion to renew tenant-based rental assistance contracts (including Housing Choice Vouchers).
- Tenant Protection Vouchers (TPV) rise to about $601 million (up $264 million).
- Public Housing Agencies can use TPVs to transition families from expiring Emergency Housing Vouchers into ongoing assistance.
Take Action
What to do now
- Confirm your local renewal timeline and flag any renewal/contracting concerns early so disruptions don’t happen quietly.
- Prepare for the FY 2026 CoC NOFO timeline: HUD is required to release the NOFO by June 1, 2026, and issue awards by Dec. 1, 2026.
- Keep documenting what renewal stability protects — residents’ housing, provider staffing, landlord partnerships, and local system capacity — so policymakers understand what’s at stake if implementation falters.
