$1.25 MILLION IN FEDERAL GRANT MONIES TO ENHANCE CITY AND COUNTY HOMELESS PROGRAMS
Harrisburg, PA – Mayor Stephen R. Reed and the Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness (CACH) today announced federal approval of $1,252,024 in grant funds that will allow the continuance of major programs started in the city and county to end chronic homelessness in less than 10 years.
Reed said the grant monies were awarded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care program. The funds will go to the following facilities and purposes:
&Mac183; $221,268 to the Dauphin County Housing Authority to provide direct rental subsidy and wrap-around services to 35 individuals who are severely mentally ill within the county’s Shelter & Care program
&Mac183; $137,520 to the Dauphin County Housing Authority to add four units to the county’s Shelter & Care program
&Mac183; $176,188 to the YWCA’s Veteran Housing Program to provide direct rental subsidy and wrap-around services to five individuals who are both U.S. Veterans and who are chronically homeless
&Mac183; $76,605 to the Shalom House to provide rental subsidy and wrap-around services to twenty women with children who are chronically homeless
&Mac183; $218,284 to the YWCA’s Permanent Housing Disabilities Program to provide rental subsidy and wrap-around services to eleven women with children, one of whom has a disability
&Mac183; $84,067 to DELTA’s Transitional Housing Program to rent eight privately-owned apartments in which to place families for between six months and two years, during which DELTA provides supportive services that enable their transition to permanent, stable housing
&Mac183; $96,199 to the YWCA’s Works Singles Program to provide employment preparation for homeless and chronically homeless unaccompanied individuals residing at Bethesda Mission, Shalom House and YWCA shelters
&Mac183; $241,893 to the YWCA’s Working Parents Program to aid in job placement for homeless persons with families
Mayor Reed said, "For a very long time, the means of dealing with homelessness was to provide temporary shelter for usually limited periods of time, and to provide food or meals on a daily basis. There was no system in place and service delivery was fragmented, frequently duplicative, and was never really effective in solving the underlying issues that cause homelessness.
"The chronically homeless simply moved from shelter to shelter, place to place, and remained homeless.
"What exists today is a fully-comprehensive and coordinated network to not just provide housing but to deal with the root causes of homelessness, which involve such issues as substance abuse, mental illness, lack of job skills or underemployment, inability to take care of children and work at the same time, domestic violence and related matters.
"It is because we have established such a network that we are eligible for annual federal funding with the monies focused on ending chronic homelessness. That is the essence of what we announce today, as this new funding continues this noble effort that is already making a real difference in peoples’ lives," Reed said.
The HUD Continuum of Care program provides permanent and transitional housing for homeless persons while also providing what are called wrap-around services such as job training, health care, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and childcare. Since 2000, members of the CACH have received nearly $7.16 million in grant monies from the HUD Continuum of Care program.
"Virtually all homeless service providers in Dauphin County are members of CACH precisely for the purpose of maximizing our community’s resources," said Bryan Davis, Chair of the CACH. The CACH is a voluntary association of nearly 65 service and housing providers, the city and county governments, and faith-based and community organizations whose focus is to find collaborative solutions for the needs of homeless persons in both the city and county.
"Both the city and county have implemented major initiatives to help fight homelessness," said Mayor Reed. "The HUD Continuum of Care program has literally helped thousands of individuals and families since its inception."
All of the Continuum of Care grant activities are consistent with the City and County’s comprehensive plan to address homelessness. Home Run: The Capital Area’s 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, is a long-range, comprehensive plan to help the city and county’s homeless citizens establish healthy and stable lives in permanent housing, while also preventing families and individuals from becoming homeless. Home Run was established and implemented by Mayor Reed and the Dauphin County Commissioners in 2006.
Among several of the initiatives currently being implemented by the Home Run plan is the Susquehanna Harbor Safe Haven, a homeless housing facility that will be housed within the City limits. Construction is slated to begin on the project this year.
"This is the most comprehensive and well-developed plan ever put forth to address homelessness in the Capital Region," said Mayor Reed. "The primary goal of the plan, which is supplemented in part by the Continuum of Care grant monies, is not to simply reduce homelessness, but to prevent it."
The Mayor saluted the human service, community and church groups engaged in providing services to the homeless. "They are doing God’s work on Earth. In the richest nation in the world, they are directly engaged in addressing a longstanding human issue that has not had the full attention it has always deserved. The Capital Area Coalition on Homeless, with federal, city and county support, has taken our local response on this issue to a whole new level for which they continue to have our public salute and commitment."
For more information, contact the City’s Department of Building and Housing Development at (717) 255-6480 or the Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness at (717) 232-3458.
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