News Release

HUD AWARDS $1,575,000 TO HELP FAMILES, THE ELDERLY AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES LIVING IN PUBLIC HOUSING
Bristol, Danville and Roanoke Housing Authorities Win Grants

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded more than $50 million in grants to assist senior citizens, disabled individuals and families living in public housing across the U.S, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Housing authorities in Bristol, Danville and Roanoke as well as the Pleasant View Tenants Association in Danville were among this year's ROSS winners. (See amounts below).

HUD is awarding nearly $34 million to offer public housing residents greater access to education and employment and another $16 million to help elderly and disabled public housing residents to live independently.

"This funding helps a wide range of people who live in public housing," said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "It gives families the resources they need to get the education or training they need to find jobs. It also helps our most vulnerable - seniors and the disabled - with supportive services that allow them live on their own."

The funding is provided through HUD's Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) Program. ROSS grants are awarded to public housing authorities (PHAs), resident organizations or non-profit organizations acting on behalf of residents to encourage self-sufficiency among public housing residents.

Nationwide, HUD awarded $33,395,701 to 105 grantees in ROSS Family and Homeownership grants, which links residents with supportive services, including education, job and computer training and homeownership counseling that put families on the track to self-sufficiency. Redevelopment and housing authorities in Bristol, Danville and Roanoke as well as the Pleasant View Tenants Association in Danville won grants in under this part of the ROSS program.

Another 60 grantees received $16,651,799 in ROSS Elderly and Persons with Disabilities, which links senior and disabled residents with resources that permit them to live independently longer, such as health and wellness programs, meal services and transportation to medical services. The Bristol and Roanoke redevelopment and housing authorities also won grants under this element of the ROSS program.

Housing authorities can use the funding to hire project coordinators who assess resident needs then link them with appropriate services. They also may use it to provide families a full array of educational programs, and job readiness as they move along the spectrum of self-sufficiency. So that residents can take advantage of the education and employment services, this funding also matches residents to supportive services such as childcare and transportation. In addition, ROSS funding can support after-school and summer programs for youth living in public housing. In this way, the program has the potential to serve the whole family.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.

2007 HUD Resident Opportunities Self Sufficiency Grant Winners in Virginia