Helping to fund transitional housing for mental health patients is an appropriate use of funds from the city of Lawrence’s affordable housing trust.

Earlier this week, the city’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board voted to recommend awarding a $495,000 grant to Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center for its Bridges Transitional Recovery Program, a planned mental health facility at 1000 W. Second St. The Bridges project was chosen over other applications for affordable housing funds submitted by Lawrence Habitat for Humanity and Tenants to Homeowners.

The grant will help pay for a 4,000-square-foot transitional housing and mental health recovery facility with eight to 12 beds for mental health patients. The facility will serve residents who earn 30 percent or less of the median income and will be staffed by Bert Nash.

To qualify for the city’s affordable housing funds, projects must meet the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of affordable housing, and monthly rent and utilities cannot exceed 110 percent of the fair market rent.

Once the facility is built, Bert Nash has programming and funding in place to operate it. Bert Nash already owns the land the facility will be built on, part of which was previously dedicated by Douglas County.

Douglas County Commissioner Nancy Thellman, who sits on the Affordable Housing Advisory Board, said the affordable housing funds are necessary for the project to move forward.

“I think it’s really important to recognize the serious need for transitional housing and the fact that no developer is going to do it,” Thellman said. “It’s not a money maker; it has to be subsidized.”

The grant for the Bridges Transitional Recovery Program is a rebound of sorts for the affordable housing trust fund, which closed an application cycle earlier this year when not enough projects applied.

Lawrence will be able to fund more such projects in the future. In November, Lawrence voters approved using a portion of the citywide sales tax to help fund the affordable housing trust fund. The tax will provide about $1 million annually for the trust from 2019 to 2029.

The Affordable Housing Advisory Board’s recommendation of the Bert Nash project now goes to the Lawrence City Commission for review. The program is a worthwhile project that helps meet a pressing need in the community by providing temporary housing and services to patients who might face homelessness otherwise. The City Commission should approve the grant.