GRAND FORKS KICKS OFF ENVISION CENTER DEMONSTRATION
Centralized hubs to help HUD-assisted households become self-sufficient

GRAND FORKS - Representing U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, Rocky Mountain Deputy Regional Administrator Eric Cobb traveled to Grand Forks today to announce the Grand Forks Housing Authority's (GFHA) LaGrave Learning Center as one of the first 17 EnVision Center designations across the country. One of Secretary Carson's signature initiatives, EnVision Centers will offer HUD-assisted families access to support services that can help them achieve self-sufficiency, thereby making scarce federal resources more readily available to a greater number of households currently waiting to receive HUD assistance. Read more about HUD's EnVision Center Demonstration.

Since 1967, the Grand Forks Housing Authority has provided quality, affordable housing options to thousands of Grand Forks community members. Beginning in the early 1990's, GFHA began to include client services with an emphasis on encouraging recipients of local housing assistance to achieve self-sufficiency. Areas of focus include: after-school programming, job and technology training, access to citizenship and language classes, financial counseling, and resident service coordination. The GFHA has been a trailblazer statewide and regionally in this effort, opening the first Neighborhood Networks Center in HUD's Rocky Mountain Region - the LaGrave Learning Center - in 1993. Today, GFHA operates 6 learning centers serving a variety of populations including low-income families, working adults, the elderly and those with disabilities, and the broader community. The Grand Forks Housing Authority remains committed to serving, empowering, and connecting families and individuals with the resources they need to improve the quality of their lives and prospects for the future.

"Housing assistance should be more than just putting a roof over someone's head," said Secretary Carson of the Envision Centers last month. "These EnVision Centers offer a more holistic housing approach by connecting HUD-assisted families with the tools they need to become self-sufficient and to flourish."

The announcement today also includes convenings of local stakeholders and resident councils to assist in the identification of services to be offered at the Center, as a means of ensuring that many voices are heard. HUD will develop tools to track and measure resident outcomes of EnVision Center participants and services - the goal of which is to ensure the EnVision Centers are able to achieve and monitor progress against the goals of the program.

Located on or near HUD-assisted housing, EnVision Centers will build on the activities and resources of the LaGrave Learning Center, and will aim to continue serve as an incubator to support, focusing on four key pillars of self-sufficiency: (1) Economic Empowerment, (2) Educational Advancement, (3) Health and Wellness, and (4) Character and Leadership.

Through results-driven partnerships with organizations such as federal agencies, state and local governments, non-profits, faith-based organizations, corporations, public housing authorities, and housing finance agencies, EnVision Centers will leverage public-private partnerships to connect HUD-assisted households with services that offer pathways to self-sufficiency.

To learn more about Secretary Carson's EnVision Center demonstration, please visit HUD.gov/EnVisionCenters.

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov.

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