HUD AWARDS ALMOST $3.7 MILLION FOR 28 NEW LOCAL HOMELESS PROJECTS IN ALASKA, IDAHO, OREGON & WASHINGTON
Today's funds are over-and-above $64.8 million in renewal funding awarded in December to more than 480 projects serving homeless across Northwest

SEATTLE - U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Mary McBride today awarded $3,682,366 in fiscal year 2011 funds to support 28 new projects serving the homeless in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

The 28 new projects funded today in the Northwest are located in Anchorage, Astoria, Bend, Boise, Eugene, Everett, Hillsboro, Hood River, Longview, Ontario, Oregon City, Pendleton, Port Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Spokane, Wenatchee, Yakima and Vancouver.

HUD had already awarded almost $64.8 million in fiscal year 2011 funds to renew funding to existing homeless projects in the Northwest in late December 2011 - $3,503,437 to 25 projects in Alaska, $3,487,320 to 38 projects in Idaho, $19,210,480 to 112 projects in Oregon and $38,610,507 to 208 projects in Washington state.

"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."

"The $68.4 million in renewal funding we awarded in December will help keep the doors open at more than 480 homeless projects across the Northwest and help the homeless rebuild their lives," said HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Mary McBride. "These additional funds allow Continuums of Care in 28 communities to launch new and innovative ways to improve and expand the critical services they provide."

Today's awards went to:

The funds announced today were competitively awarded and were part of a total of $201 million awarded today to 731 new local homeless programs across the country and 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. 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'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 (http://www.usich.gov/opening_doors/) puts the country on a path to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015 and to ending 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.