VERMONT STATE HOUSING AUTHORITY AWARDED HUD GRANT FOR HOMELESS PROGRAM

BURLINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development New England Regional Administrator Barbara Fields today
awarded $128,400 to Vermont State Housing Authority for a new homeless program in Vermont. Today’s announcement marks the first-ever grant to a local project that provides critically needed housing and support services to homeless individuals and families.  In January, HUD awarded an additional $3.7 million to renew funding to 24 existing Vermont programs.

"Today, we are announcing new funds to invest in critically needed programs that will go a long way towards helping Vermont State Housing Authority assist the homeless and put families and individuals on the road to independence," said Fields.

HUD's Continuum of Care grants fund a wide range of transitional and permanent housing programs as well as supportive services such as job training, case management, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment
and child care. Street outreach and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for homeless
persons and families are also funded through these grants.

Vermont State Housing is receiving a Shelter Plus Care (S+C) grant; this grant 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.

In addition to the Continuum of Care grant program, HUD's new Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing
(HPRP) Program made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is making a major contribution to ending homelessness in Vermont. To date, HPRP has allocated $3.4 million in Vermont to prevent more than 6,000 people 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 at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.