As it gets colder, more people in the North Country look to helping agencies for food and shelter.

In turn, those agencies are counting up their funding and support this time of year. Federal and state grants make a huge difference. Then there are really small, immediate things, like donated clothing. There are lots of efforts underway to help people in need this winter.

In Trinity Park, in downtown Plattsburgh, snowflakes were getting caught in Nick Dubay’s red, bushy beard. He was tying a scarf to a lamppost, and leaving it there for anybody who might want or need it. “It’s very simple, and it’s – if you need a scarf, take a scarf,” he said.

Dubay is with the National Alliance on Mental Illness of the Champlain Valley. They’ve given out about 150 scarves in this way, leaving them tied to benches and posts around the park.

Each one has a piece of paper attached, with the phone number for the local United Way. The scarves were donated by local businesses and people in the community.

“If you need one, take one. If you think you need three, four, five, take them. If you can take some scarves and then deliver them to someone who possibly needs them, absolutely do it,” Dubay said. “Sometimes you don’t have everything that you need.”

That was last week, and most of the scarves have been taken by now. Dubay said the mental health organization might give out more soon in another part of town.

Meanwhile, housing agencies across the North Country are helping people in a bigger way. The region recently won $1.5 million in federal grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Continuum of Care funding was spread across 10 North Country counties.

John Redden is Clinton County’s social services commissioner. His county got $144,000 to help a specific slice of the homeless population: “Individuals that are homeless and dually diagnosed, with a mental health and substance abuse diagnosis,” he said. Redden said the grant will help cover rent for about 20 people.

“One of the key elements of recovery is stable housing, and this provides the stable housing,” he said.

The money also helps pay for case management services.

Federal HUD officials say the $1.5 million the North Country won is 2 percent more than the previous round. In a statement, HUD’s Holly Leicht said the point of the grant is to make sure no one is left out in the cold this winter, so it’s especially important to keep the region’s helping agencies in good financial shape.

Redden said local agencies can’t rely on those grants every year, though. He said HUD money ebbs and flows, and the grants are highly competitive. “I know several counties in the Finger Lakes area, I believe they lost funding last year. So it is a competitive process,” he said, adding that he “absolutely” worries Clinton County won’t get the same federal grants next year.

There are also some state initiatives to fight homelessness getting underway. According to the Watertown Daily Times, St. Lawrence County recently won an $850,000 state grant to help 29 low-income families buy their first homes.

In Plattsburgh, two agencies are working with the state on a plan to build 100 new, affordable housing units. One of the agencies is ETC Housing. In an email, ETC’s director, Shauna Miller, said 2017 is on track “to be an exciting year for housing in Clinton County.”

Later this month, ETC will also help coordinate the local point-in-time count, a nationwide survey federal officials use to count how many people are homeless in the U.S.