CUOMO DELIVERS $3.1 MILLION IN ASSISTANCE FOR LOS ANGELES HOMELESS PROVIDERS

LOS ANGELES - Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo today presented $3.1 million in grants to non-profit groups in Los Angeles to enable them to continue operating programs that help homeless people get housing and supportive services - including job training, child care, substance abuse treatment and mental health care - to become self-sufficient.

Cuomo delivered the funds in a stop in Los Angeles, on the second day of a four-day visit to communities in Southern California to see Department of Housing and Urban Development programs in action and meet with local mayors and others to learn more about their communities.

"The assistance we are delivering today will save the lives of homeless people who have nowhere else to turn, and will help homeless people work their way back to self-sufficiency and independence," Cuomo said. "These grants aren't a handout. They are a hand-up on the ladder of opportunity."

The Secretary was joined by Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard as he announced the homeless grants. Commenting on one of the grants, she said: "Funding for La Posada is another example of HUD's commitment toward supporting model programs that help young mothers transition into independent living."

Cuomo also said that President Clinton's proposed 1999 budget would further benefit the City of Los Angeles, by boosting other HUD assistance to the city from about $191.8 million this year to an estimated $234.6 million next year.

Cuomo delivered these grants, which will fund homeless programs in Los Angeles for three years:

• $1.05 million to the Salvation Army to continue operating Bethesda House, a permanent housing project for people with disabilities, and to provide supportive services.

• $465,763 to New Economics for Women to provide housing and supportive services to homeless women and their children at La Posada, located in a primarily Latino neighborhood.

• $352,054 to the Weingart Center Association to continue to provide supportive services to homeless people - many of them chronic substance abusers.

• $172,150 for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to provide housing and supportive services to homeless men in recovery from alcohol and/or substance abuse.

• $780,240 to the Single Room Occupancy Housing Corp. to continue to operate a transitional housing program in downtown Los Angeles for homeless people, including those who are severely mentally ill.

• $247,834, also to the Single Room Occupancy Housing Corp., to provide social services to homeless individuals, including those who suffer from substance abuse problems.

President Clinton's 1999 budget request contains a record $1.15 billion in homeless assistance - including $923 million for aid to localities for their own homeless assistance programs and $192 million in rental assistance vouchers under HUD's Section 8 program to make 34,000 apartments available to homeless Americans. The increase boosts spending on homeless programs by nearly 40 percent above the $823 million for homeless programs in this year's budget.

Under the Clinton Administration's Continuum of Care approach, communities devise local plans to not only provide homeless people with emergency, transitional and permanent housing, but to fund local programs including job training, child care, substance abuse treatment and mental health services. The grants are administered by local governments and non-profit homeless providers across the nation.

A Columbia University study concluded a year ago that HUD's Continuum of Care homeless policies "have had a positive impact on communities across the nation" and were an improvement from past efforts that focused on short-term emergency shelter.