| HUD No. 00-350] | |
| Further Information: | For Release |
| In the Washington, DC area: 202/708-0685 | Monday |
| Or contact your local HUD office | December 18, 2000 |
Service Coordinator Grants Fiscal Year 2000
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HUD AWARDS $29.3 MILLION TO HELP THE ELDERLY AND DISABLED CONTINUE TO LIVE INDEPENDENTLY AT HOME
WASHINGTON - Though they’re not quite Clarence, George Bailey’s guardian angel in It’s a Wonderful Life, the people hired as "service coordinators" from $29.3 million in grants announced today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will help more than 35,000 low-income elderly and physically incapacitated residents in federally supported housing identify and receive health care, meals and other critical support services they need to remain living independently.
The grants, said HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo who made the announcement, go to the owners of private housing developments in 39 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia who receive money from HUD to house low-income individuals. The owners or their management companies then either hire or enter into a contract for the service coordinators, who have backgrounds in providing social services, especially to the frail elderly and people with disabilities.
Cuomo noted that the grants are part of the Administration’s $779 million Housing Security Plan for Older Americans, an initiative to expand the housing options for more than 300,000 low-income seniors.
"Too many older and disabled Americans who struggle to get by on fixed incomes just don’t have the money to pay for housing and needed support services," Cuomo said. "HUD is helping them get both the housing that they need and the services that will enable them to remain in their apartments, connected to their communities, family and friends."
Cuomo added that as the U.S. population ages
and the number of older Americans grows, there will be an increased need
for programs to help the elderly continue living independently in their
homes.
The grants are:
| State | Funded | State | Funded |
| Alabama | $388,565 | Missouri | $578,065 |
| Arkansas | $334,314 | Montana | $122,675 |
| Arizona | $600,687 | Nebraska | $736,967 |
| California | $4,553,248 | New Jersey | $91,023 |
| Colorado | $210,363 | New Mexico | $151,558 |
| Connecticut | $1,478,491 | New York | $1,667,796 |
| District of Columbia | $94,050 | Ohio | $2,395,324 |
| Florida | $1,464,065 | Oregon | $439,058 |
| Georgia | $1,112,053 | Pennsylvania | $879,150 |
| Hawaii | $83,057 | Puerto Rico | $394,122 |
| Idaho | $134,898 | Rhode Island | $227,510 |
| Illinois | $329,107 | South Carolina | $430,984 |
| Indiana | $1,293,232 | Tennessee | $1,226,544 |
| Kansas | $317,123 | Texas | $1,070,188 |
| Kentucky | $485,494 | Virginia | $166,295 |
| Louisiana | $143,286 | Vermont | $386,104 |
| Massachusetts | $515,127 | Washington | $1,281,497 |
| Maryland | $203,074 | Wisconsin | $493,303 |
| Maine | $210,820 | West Virginia | $468,475 |
| Michigan | $1,430,392 | Wyoming | $51,070 |
| Minnesota | $709,114 | ||
| TOTAL: $29,348,268 |
Each year, HUD provides rental assistance to approximately 1.5 million elderly low-income households so that they may live in decent, safe and affordable homes.
HUD’s Housing Security Plan for Older
Americans provides a full range of options -- a continuum of care --
to meet the combined housing and service needs of America’s senior
citizens. In addition to the funding announced today, the plan:
- increases funding for HUD’s Section 202 elderly housing program;
- provides, for the first time, grants to convert existing HUD-subsidized apartments into assisted living to better meet the needs of the aging residents;
- allows, for the first time, seniors receiving housing vouchers to use them in assisted living facilities, enabling many to avoid moving into more institutional and expensive nursing homes; and,
- expands HUD's reverse mortgage program,
which allows older Americans to get needed cash by borrowing against the
value of their homes.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there
were 34.6 million people age 65 years or older in the U.S. in 1999, and
it estimates that by 2100 that number will climb to 131 million.
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