HUD SECRETARY DONOVAN ANNOUNCES $449,366 IN HOMELESS AID TO KANSAS
Funding supports unprecedented federal strategy to prevent and end homelessness

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced $449,366 in new grants to assist two local homeless assistance programs in Kansas City, Kansas/Wyandotte County. The funding will offer critically needed housing and support services to homeless individuals and families over the extended lifetime
of these grants. Wyandot Center for Community Behavioral Healthcare/Jack's Creek Apartments has been awarded both grants for two new Supportive Housing Programs.

Last December, HUD awarded $5.6 million through its Continuum of Care programs to quickly renew funding to 36 existing local programs. The grants announced today build on that investment by funding new projects, awarded by competition and funded through the 2009 Continuum of Care funds. In addition, the funding supports the Obama Administration's far-reaching and ambitious plan to end homelessness. Last month, Donovan and 18 other federal agencies unveiled Opening Doors, an unprecedented federal strategy to end veteran and chronic homelessness by 2015, and to end homelessness among children, families, and youth by 2020.

"This funding is an important part of the Obama Administration's new strategy to end homelessness in all its forms," said Donovan. "We know that these programs are critical in moving people beyond a life on the streets and placing them on a path toward dignity and self sufficiency."

HUD's Continuum of Care grants are awarded competitively to local programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients Continuum of Care grants provide permanent and transitional housing to homeless persons. In addition, Continuum of Care grants fund a wide range of programs including important services such as job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and child care.. These grants also fund street outreach and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for homeless persons and families.

HUD's homelessness grants are reducing long-term or chronic homelessness in America. Based on the Department's latest Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), chronic homelessness has declined by 30 percent since 2006.
This decline is directly attributed to HUD's homeless grants helping to create significantly more permanent housing
for those who might otherwise be living on the streets.

It was also reported in the AHAR that the number of homeless families increased for the second consecutive year, almost certainly due to the ongoing effects of the recession.

In addition to the funding provided through HUD's Continuum of Care Programs, the Department allocated $1.5 billion through its new Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) Program. Made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, HPRP is intended to prevent persons from falling into homelessness or to rapidly re-house them if they do.

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet and espanol.hud.gov.