HUD Regional Administrator Chris Patterson Shares Experiences on Mid-Atlantic Foster Youth to Independence Initiative Webinar

Chesapeake's Vickie Butts, Portsmouth's Alisa Winston, HUD Regional Administrator and FYI Lead Chris Patterson, HUD Mid-Atlantic's Monica Hawkins, NCHCW's Adaora Onuora join host, Ruthie White as she reviews the differences in HUD's programs to assist former foster youth during the webinar.

Last month, nearly 200 attendees joined Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Joe DeFelice, Ruthie White from the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare (who served as host.) Two of the region's early adopters in this initiative, Chesapeake and Portsmouth, both in Virginia, in sharing their insights and experiences in starting Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) programs during the regionwide webinar. FYI provides housing assistance and supportive services to young people with a child welfare history who are at-risk-of or experiencing homelessness. Pacific Regional Administrator Chris Patterson, who also serves as HUD's lead for the FYI initiative, and Adaora Onoura, a former foster care youth and our agency's first Humans of HUD video profile, shared their personal journeys and why they became advocates for this important initiative. Since we launched FYI last year, 69 vouchers for former foster youth have been awarded to public housing authorities in Pennsylvania and Virginia alone, with more to come.

Read about the Foster Youth to Independence programs.

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