HUD No. 10-260 Joel Manske, ND Field Office Director (701) 293-2828 |
For
Release Tuesday December 7, 2010 |
HUD SECRETARY DONOVAN ANNOUNCES THAT RECOVERY ACT FUNDING HAS PREVENTED OR ENDED HOMELESSNESS FOR MORE THAN 750,000 PERSONS
HPRP Helped 1,540 Individuals and Families in North Dakota
FARGO, ND - U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today that homelessness for 750,000 Americans was prevented or ended, thanks to HUD's Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP), funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The program provided $1.5 billion to local communities to keep families in their homes or help them find other affordable housing after a sudden financial crisis, which might have otherwise led to homelessness. In North Dakota 1,540 people were assisted through HUD's HPRP program. In North Dakota persons were assisted with the help of the North Dakota Department of Commerce.
"Preventing or ending homelessness for more than 750,000 Americans is a major milestone for the Recovery Act and for the Obama Administration's Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness," said Secretary Donovan. "Often times, a little bit of financial assistance can make all the difference between finding or keeping a stable
home and being forced to live in a shelter or on the streets."
HUD requires each grantee to participate in its local Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), where
client-level data is entered and collected on the households served through HPRP on a quarterly basis. The grantee and/or sub-grantee compiles the reported data and provides HUD with an unduplicated count of person and households served in the reporting quarter and date, as well as whether the household exited the program to stable housing. On an annual basis, HUD captures additional detailed data from the grantees that is published in the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report.
The Recovery Act provided $1.5 billion to fund HPRP, which was a new program created specifically under the Recovery Act. These grants offer communities a resource to provide short- and medium-term rental assistance
and services to prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless or to quickly re-house those who are
experiencing homelessness.
Grants provided under HPRP are not intended to provide long-term support for individuals and families, nor do they provide mortgage assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure. Rather, HPRP offers short- and medium-term
financial assistance and services to those who would otherwise become homeless, and those who are already in homeless shelters or living on the street, many due to sudden economic crisis. This can include short-term rental assistance (up to three months), medium-term rental assistance (up to 18 months), security deposits, utility
deposits and/or utility payments, moving cost assistance, and hotel vouchers. Payments will not be made directly
to households, but only to third parties, such as landlords or utility companies. The goal of the program is to
increase housing stability for those individuals and families served with HPRP assistance.
Secretary Donovan and the Department are committed to providing the highest level of transparency possible as Recovery Act funds are administered. It is vitally important that the American people are fully aware of how their
tax dollars are being spent and can hold their federal leaders accountable. Every dollar of Recovery Act funds HUD spends can be reviewed and tracked at HUD's Recovery Act website. The full text of HUD's funding notices and tracking of future performance of these grants is also available at HUD's Recovery Act website
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