Homelessness Stories | Community Development Digest

HUD, DOL Award $8.7 Million to Reduce Homelessness, Recidivism

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have awarded $8.7 million to address homelessness and reduce recidivism among this justice-involved population through the Pay for Success model.

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Rental Housing Need Increases as Homeless Children Numbers Grow

The number of families with children receiving federal rent subsidies has declined by more than 250,000 (13 percent) since 2004 and is at its lowest point in more than a decade. Even so, the demand for rental housing has risen sharply in the last decade due to economic and demographic factors, and many families with children are being squeezed financially as rents rise faster than incomes.

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California Nonprofit Wins Gov’t-backed Loan for Homeless Vet Project

American Family Housing (AFH) -- the California-based nonprofit organization dedicated to permanently ending the cycle of homelessness throughout Orange, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties -- has been granted a rental housing loan for new construction from the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program (VHHP) in the amount of $1,792,198.

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Group Sounds Alarm about Rising Homelessness among Elderly

More older adults are homeless or at risk of homelessness than at any time in recent history. As the population ages, more adults are aging into poverty. The lack of affordable housing and higher costs for health care and other necessities are also leaving greater numbers of older adults at risk of poverty and homelessness, and systemic economic problems are contributing to the problem.

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HUD Sends $1.6 Billion in Grants to Homeless Programs

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) this week makes available some $1.6 billion in grants to be divvied up among 6,400 local homeless housing and service programs in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These Tier 1 Continuum of Care (CoC) grants support the administration’s efforts to end homelessness. Among other things, the funding supports critically needed housing and support services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

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Obama’s Budget Seeks $11 Billion to ‘End Homelessness’

President Obama’s FY 2017 budget request will ask Congress to make “an historic investment of $11 billion over the next 10 years in community-based, cost-effective strategies that we know work,” says the Department of Housing & Urban Development in a prepared statement. “That investment will help us achieve our goal by 2020 and maintain that achievement," HUD says.

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California Lawmakers Propose $2 Billion Homeless Project

Lawmakers in California are proposing allocation of $2 billion to create or rehab 10,000 to 14,000 units of permanent housing for mentally ill people experiencing street homelessness, and providing $200 million in rent subsidies in the meantime.

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Finding Community Solutions for Improved Longevity

Homelessness and violence can shorten individuals’ life spans by as much as 25 years, according to experts at a recent solutions-focused forum hosted by USA Today and Cigna.

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HUD to Congress: Overall Homelessness Declines 11 Percent

The Department of Housing & Urban Development’s “2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress” finds there has been an overall 11 percent decrease and 26 percent drop in the unsheltered homeless population since 2010 when President Obama launched Opening Doors, the nation’s first-ever comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness.

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HUD Makes $1.9 Billion Available for Homeless Programs

The funding will provide permanent and transitional housing to people experiencing homelessness as well as services including housing stabilization, job training, and health care.

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