BUSH ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES $3.14 MILLION IN GRANTS TO HOUSE AND SERVE HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES IN NASHVILLE/DAVIDSON COUNTY

NASHVILLE - Thousands of local programs that house and serve homeless persons� from emergency shelters and transitional housing projects to permanent supportive housing programs�will receive $1.33 billion in funding through grants announced December 20, 2005 by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson. Included in the funding announced today by HUD Nashville Field Office Director Bill Dirl, at an event at the Salvation Army Command Headquarters, is $3,148,546.00 to support local homeless programs in Nashville/Davidson County. These funds are expected to provide critically needed assistance to persons and families living without a home of their
own.

"Today, we take another step along the road toward that day when we end chronic homelessness on our streets," said Jackson. "The funding we announce today will help provide homes and vital services to those who need them most�persons and families who deserve a place they can call home."

HUD's funding today is provided to a number of Nashville/Davidson County Continuum of Care Homeless providers.
See attached list of providers and grants allocations.

HUD's Continuum of Care programs provide permanent and transitional housing to homeless persons. In addition, Continuum grants fund important services including job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and child care.

Combined, HUD's Continuum of Care and Emergency Shelter Grant programs will provide critically needed funding to nearly 5,000 local programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For a more detailed local summary of the funding announced today, visit HUD's website.

More than $13,677,195.00 in Continuum of Care grants has been awarded competitively to Tennessee programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients. Continuum grants fund a wide variety of programs-from street outreach
and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for homeless persons and families.

The Goal to End Chronic Homelessness

For nearly five years, HUD has increasingly emphasized the Bush Administration's goal of ending chronic
homelessness in its assistance programs. Research indicates that approximately 10 percent of all homeless persons experience long-term or chronic homelessness. These studies also find that this hardest-to-serve population utilizes over half of all emergency shelter resources designed to assist homeless individuals and families. By shifting the federal emphasis toward meeting the needs of the most vulnerable homeless persons, more resources become available for those who experience homelessness as a temporary condition.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet and espanol.hud.gov.

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