On Wednesday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $1.4 billion in grants nationwide. California received the most money of more than $200 million. Oakland and San Francisco received the largest chunk -- nearly $40 million between the two.
"This is a competition, and San Francisco and Oakland have been two of the leaders nationally, in coming up with innovative ways to fight homelessness, so funding for California, particularly, Oakland and San Francisco has been scored very well," said Shaun Donovan, the HUD secretary.
HUD says America's homeless population has dropped by a third in recent years, due in large part the innovative prevention programs in cities like San Francisco.
