News Release

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AWARDS NEARLY $19.5 MILLION IN HOMELESS GRANTS TO LOCAL HOUSING AND SERVICE PROGRAMS IN COLORADO

DENVER - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the Obama Administration is awarding $19,449,598 in grants to 77 local homeless providers throughout Colorado. HUD grants offer homeless individuals and families a wide range of housing and support services.

"With the foreclosure and unemployment crisis looming, millions of families - both homeowners and renters - are in danger of losing their homes so we must focus substantial resources to help those families find stable housing," said Donovan. "The grants being awarded today, along with the recovery plan's additional $1.5 billion, will offer a critical lifeline to those persons and families who, after a foreclosure or job loss, might otherwise be faced with homelessness. Today we are announcing an unprecedented commitment to fund programs that have a proven track record of providing real housing solutions for our most vulnerable neighbors."

Included in today's announcement, HUD is awarding $24 million to create new pilot programs in 23 local communities to rapidly re-house homeless families with children, including Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) for $1,578,753. These local pilot programs will become the basis of a significantly expanded $1.5 billion effort to offer quick housing assistance to homeless families and to prevent homelessness among those facing a sudden economic crisis. Congress directed HUD to select a limited number of programs to receive funding under the Rapid Re-Housing pilot program. Recipients were selected based on their proven experience in rapid re-housing services; strong performance under the Continuum of Care program and representation of geographic diversity. MDHI can use the funds for short term housing assistance, including rental assistance and housing placement services.

HUD's funding is provided in two ways:

• Continuum of Care Grants provide permanent and transitional housing to homeless persons. In addition, Continuum grants fund important services including job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and child care. More than $1.5 billion in Continuum of Care grants are awarded competitively to local programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients. Continuum grants fund a wide variety of programs from street outreach and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for homeless persons and families.

• Emergency Shelter Grants provide funds for the operation of local shelters and fund related social service and homeless prevention programs. Emergency Shelter Grants that are allocated based on a formula to state and local governments to create, improve and operate emergency shelters for homeless persons. These funds may also support essential services including job training, health care, drug/alcohol treatment, childcare and homelessness prevention activities. By helping to support emergency shelter, transitional housing and needed support services, Emergency Shelter Grants are designed to move homeless persons away from a life on the street toward permanent housing.

HUD Grants for Colorado HOMELESS:

This year, HUD launched a new electronic grant submission process called e-snaps. This new electronic system allows applicants to store their submissions as they work on them and significantly reduces the time it takes HUD staff to review these applications. It also saves considerable effort by avoiding burdensome and time-consuming data entry. In the end, e-snaps will streamline and accelerate the process of awarding HUD grant to local homeless programs across the country.

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NOTE:

1. For information on HUD's homeless programs, please contact Jane Goin via email or at (303) 672-5440. For information on how the grantee will administer the funding or for information on a specific local project, please contact the local Continuum of Care:

Metropolitan Denver Homeless Initiative: Sarah Maxwell @ (303) 238-3580 ext. 29
Colorado Springs/El Paso County: Robert J. Holmes @ (719) 955-0731
Colorado Balance of State Advisory Board: Tom Power @ (303) 285-5221

2. Reference Key:

*SHPR: Supportive Housing Program renewal grant designed to develop supportive housing and services that will allow homeless persons to live as independently as possible. Through SHP, homeless individuals will achieve residential stability, increase their skill levels and/or their incomes. These grants are designed to move people away from a life on the street toward self-sufficiency.

*S+CR: Shelter Plus Care renewal grant is designed to provide housing and supportive services on a long-term basis for homeless individuals with disabilities, primarily those with serious mental illness, chronic problems with alcohol and drugs, and AIDS.