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HUD Package Includes $322 Million, Including $54.5 Million
Set-Aside for Rural Communities, For Permanent Housing, Supportive
Services, And Other Costs
Package Also Provides $43 Million To Fund Approximately 4,000
New Incremental Housing Choice Vouchers
WASHINGTON - The Biden Administration through the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released a
first-of-its-kind package of resources to address unsheltered homelessness
and homeless encampments, including funds set aside specifically to address
homelessness in rural communities.
The $365 million package includes grant funds along with
additional vouchers that will enhance communities’ capacity to humanely and
effectively address unsheltered homelessness by connecting vulnerable individuals
and families to housing, health care, and supportive services. This
Initiative for Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness being made available by
HUD strongly promotes partnerships with health care organizations, public
housing authorities and mainstream housing providers, and people with lived
experience and expertise of homelessness.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that people sleeping in
their vehicles, in tents, or on the streets, including in rural areas, have
access to decent, stable housing and services, like health care and
treatment, to live with dignity and safety,” said Department
of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “Solving
unsheltered homelessness means delivering help to the people who need it
the most, but who have the hardest time reaching it. It means putting
Housing First and health care and other supportive services right after.
With this funding, communities will have the resources to scale up
coordinated efforts to humanely and effectively move people from
encampments into homes by linking homeless outreach with health care,
treatment, and housing.”
“Access to a safe place to call home is essential to health
and well-being,” said Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary Xavier Becerra. “The Biden-Harris Administration is
committed to working across the federal government to end homelessness by
ensuring access to health care, support services, and permanent housing for
all Americans. I am pleased to support Secretary Fudge in bringing housing
and health care within greater reach for those who need it most, including
in rural communities.”
“Getting unsheltered Veterans and homeless rural Vets into
houses is a top priority in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ strategy to
end Veteran homelessness,” said Department of Veterans Affairs
Secretary Denis McDonough. “These new resources from HUD add
timely new capacity to this fight. No Veteran should ever be homeless in
this country, which they swore an oath to defend.”
“President Biden is following through on his promise to unite
our country by delivering funding for health care and services that support
individuals who are unhoused,” said Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director
of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). “As
a physician I have seen firsthand how important it is to address the social
and economic conditions of a person’s life in order for them to realize the
health and well-being every American deserves. Today’s announcement is a
key step in our work to do just that.”
Specifically, the package includes:
- $322 million in Continuum
of Care Program grants through a Special Notice of Funding Opportunity
to fund homeless outreach, permanent housing, supportive services, and
other costs as part of a comprehensive community approach to solve
unsheltered homelessness, including a set-aside of $54.5 million
specifically for rural communities. These grants will fund projects
for three-years, after which they will be eligible for renewal through
the annual Continuum of Care program competition.
- $43 million to fund
approximately 4,000 new incremental vouchers will be allocated via a
separate notice to public housing authorities with a priority to those
that are partners in comprehensive community approaches to solve
homelessness. These vouchers can serve households experiencing or
at-risk of homelessness; those fleeing or attempting to flee domestic
violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and veterans
and families that include a veteran family member that meets one of
the proceeding criteria. Congress has provided HUD with waiver
authorities to facilitate lease-up for vulnerable households.
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