The Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority has received a federal grant to provide permanent housing for some of the city’s homeless, officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

The $328,928 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development will be used to create a “Hope Building” that will be used to house eight to 15 chronically homeless persons. Mental health and substance abuse counseling will be available through the program, officials said.

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“This is looking at the hard-core, homeless street population,” said Barbara Huppee, director of the city-county agency.

The program should get under way within months, she said.