Menendez Announces $2.1 Million to Support Homeless Programs in New Jersey
WASHINGTON, DC – August 1, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today announced New Jersey has been awarded $2,173,288 to support efforts to end homelessness in New Jersey through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care program.
According to the Corporation for Supportive Housing’s most recent data there are an estimated 11,741 homeless men, women and children across the state of New Jersey. These funds will help ensure local shelter and service programs can continue operating and prevent an interruption in services.
“These federal resources will help New Jersey’s organizations on the front lines of ending homelessness ensure that housing and quality services are available for the men, women and children that need them,” said Senator Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing. “Efforts to end homelessness in New Jersey have taken on an even greater urgency in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. More New Jerseyans than ever understand what it means to be without a home, and working to make sure individuals and families have roofs over their heads is an essential part of our Sandy recovery.”
HUD’s Continuum of Care Program is one of many federal initiatives aimed at reducing and preventing homelessness, as well as supporting them in their transition to a better future. Last year, President Obama launched the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness, a collaboration of 19 federal agencies and offices that form the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) to reach specific benchmarks by 2020.
Background Info from the Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD’s Continuum of Care grants announced today provide permanent and transitional housing to homeless persons as well as services including job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and child care. Continuum of Care grants are awarded competitively to local programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients. These grants fund a wide variety of programs from street outreach and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for homeless persons and families.
In 2010, President Obama and 19 federal agencies and offices that form the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) launched the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness. Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness puts the country on a path to end veterans and chronic homelessness by 2015 and to ending homelessness among children, family, and youth by 2020.
In addition to HUD’s annual grant awards, HUD continues to manage the $1.5 billion Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing (HPRP) Program. Made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this three-year grant program is intended to prevent persons from falling into homelessness or to rapidly re-house them if they do. To date, more than one million persons have been assisted through HPRP.
Full list of Awards for New Jersey
City of Trenton, $330,667
Community Planning and Advocacy Council / Camden Housing First 2012, $373,507
County of Warren/ 2012 Tri-County Planning Grant, $10,000
Covenant House New Jersey, Inc. / Youth Housing Project, $47,133
Elizabeth/Union County CoC Planning Project, $49,276
Garden State Episcopal Community Development Corporation, Jersey City, $393,586
Housing Development Corporation, Zoe’s Place, East Rutherford, $124,367
North Hudson Community Action Corporation, Rapid Rehousing, $550,000
Sussex County Interfaith Hospitality Network, $294,752
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Press Contact
Paul_Brubaker (at) menendez.senate (dot) gov
202-224-4744
