| HUD No. 00-299 | |
| Further Information: | For Release |
| In the Washington, DC area: 202/708-0685 | Friday |
| Or contact your local HUD office | October 20, 2000 |
CUOMO ANNOUNCES ASSISTANCE TO EXPAND WORK OF NYC GAY AND LESBIAN COMMUNITY CENTER
New York - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today awarded $75,000 in technical assistance to the Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center in New York City.
Cuomo was joined by State Senator Tom Duane, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, City Councilwoman Christine Quinn and Center Director Richard Burns.
$25,000 of the assistance will be used to help the center manage the renovation and expansion of their facilities located at 208 and 221 West 13th St. The remaining $50,000 is earmarked for a multi-cultural diversity initiative that will help expand the services the center provides to recent immigrants and clients and users for whom English is not a first language.
This assistance is the latest effort by HUD to provide support to communities with special needs, and the first technical assistance awarded to this group through the Community Development Block Grant program.
"Our nation was borne on the principle that we all are created equal," Cuomo said. "We have yet to fulfill that ideal, and we cannot rest until we do. Fairness and equal opportunity must be applied to all sectors of the community."
The Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center is a modern settlement house located in Greenwich Village that provides a home for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. More than 300 groups meet regularly at the center.
The Center provides meeting space and a wide range of cultural programs, health and human services including an alcohol and substance abuse prevention and intervention program, an international gay and lesbian rights program, New York City’s largest gay and lesbian lending library, and the National Museum and National Archive of Gay and Lesbian History.
"This grant will help the Center achieve its goals by reaching an increasingly diverse population – particularly those living with HIV and AIDS," said Center Executive Director Richard Burns.
For the past three years, the Center has received $225,000 per year in HUD funds through the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS or HOPWA grant. The money is used to help mediate disputes between the community and landlords.
Cuomo noted that this year’s budget -- in which money for HOPWA grants has increased from $100 million in 1993 to $258 million this year -- is an example of the Administration’s commitment to the gay and lesbian community. A total of $57 million in HOPWA grants has been awarded to New York this year.
Cuomo also announced that HUD is coordinating
with the Center to organize a Fair Housing forum in December in New York
City. HUD and Center officials will meet with members of the gay and lesbian
community to explain their rights under the Fair Housing Act.
![[logo: Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity]](/images/fheo50.gif){kind=small}
