HUD AWARDS NEW JERSEY OVER $13.5 MILLION TO FUND 39 NEW LOCAL HOMELESS PROGRAMS

NEWARK - U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded New Jersey over $13.5 million to support 39 new local homeless programs across the state. The funding provides critically needed emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent support for individuals and families and is a significant part of the Obama Administration's strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. The monies are part of $201 million awarded nationwide to 731 programs. (A listing of New Jersey grantees is below.)

HUD recently awarded $1.47 billion to renew funding to more than 7,100 existing local homeless programs operating across the U.S. That funding ensured housing and service programs remained operating in 2012. The grants announced today will support new local programs never before funded by HUD.

"Today's grantees will join the tens of thousands of local programs that are on the front lines of helping those who might otherwise be living on our streets," said Donovan. "It's incredible that as we work to recover from the greatest economic decline since the Great Depression, the total number of homeless Americans is declining, in large part because of these funds."

According to the latest data reported by more than 3,000 cities and counties throughout the U.S., homelessness declined 2.1 percent between 2010 and 2011 and a remarkable 12 percent among homeless veterans.

HUD grants include $15.7 million to support 103 new housing and service programs located in rural communities. Funding to these never-before-funded programs in less populated areas continues HUD's efforts to confront rural homelessness. HUD is delivering record funding to meet the unique challenges homeless individuals and families living in rural areas face.

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

• Supportive Housing Program (SHP) offers housing and supportive services to allow homeless persons to live as independently as possible.
  
  
• Shelter Plus Care (S+C) provides housing and supportive services on a long-term basis for homeless persons with disabilities, (primarily those with serious mental illness, chronic problems with alcohol and/or drugs, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or related diseases) and their families who were living in places not intended for human habitation (e.g., streets) or in emergency shelters.
  
  
• Single-Room Occupancy Program (SRO) provides rental assistance for homeless persons in one-person housing units that contain small kitchens, bathrooms, or both.

In 2010, President Obama and 19 federal agencies and offices that form the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) launched the nation's first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness. Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness (www.usich.gov/opening_doors/) puts the country on a path to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015 and to end homelessness among children, family, and youth by 2020.

In addition to HUD's annual grant awards, HUD continues to manage the $1.5 billion Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) Program. Made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this three-year grant program is intended to prevent persons from falling into homelessness or to rapidly re-house them if they do. To date, more than 1.2 million persons have been assisted through HPRP.

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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 at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov. You can also follow HUD on Twitter at @HUDnews or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD's News Listserv.