Family Services Inc. has received a $750,000 grant for its proposed $2.8 million homeless shelter, enough to bring funds committed to the project to a level that will enable work on the facility to begin.

With the grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank in Pittsburgh, Family Services has obtained commitments — some of which are not absolute — for about $1.6 million, which gives the local agency the confidence to hire an architect and a construction manager and advertise for construction bids for the 35-bed shelter with six apartments for people with low incomes, Family Services Executive Director Lisa Hann said.

The money raised so far — which includes a commitment for $500,000 in tax credits that could disappear if the credits aren’t authorized — should give the project enough credibility and the granting agencies enough assurance about the project to allow Family Services to leverage the rest of the funds, Hann indicated.

“We have some dollars to back us up,” Hann said.

Bids could go out in spring, and the project could be complete in early 2021, Hann said.

“That’s my best guess if all (goes) well,” she said.

The FHLB in Pittsburgh is part of a nationwide system established by Congress in 1932 that provides money for housing, jobs and growth through their relationship to member banks.

It’s a “banker’s bank,” a wholesale bank, said Denny Doll, CEO of Reliance Bank of Altoona, one of those member banks.

Doll encouraged Hann to apply, saying it was time for FHLB to support a program in this area, and Reliance sponsored the application, Hann said.

“We would not have gotten this money if not for Denny Doll,” she said.

The charters of FHLB banks call for community support like the loan approved for Family Services, said Doll, whose bank is also providing contributions and financing for the shelter project.

The project is needed because the current 16-bed shelter near the former Bon Secours hospital site is too small, according to Hann.

Family Services turns away about 500 shelter requests annually, according to a news release from the Pittsburgh bank.

There are currently 200 homeless people on a waiting list, Hann said.

Family Services plans to renovate a former warehouse and attached garage on Branch Avenue at 23rd Street to create the new shelter.

In addition to living quarters, it will have space for job, work-search and life-skills training and medical screenings.

The fundraising effort has benefited from Family Services’ “good partners” — those who have joined its project task force committee, Hann said.

They include county and city representatives, contractors, an architectural firm, bankers and a representative from state Sen. Judy Ward’s office, she said.

“It’s clear to us this is still needed,” Hann said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.