HARRISBURG – Hundreds of Pennsylvania families who are struggling financially will receive critical financial and housing assistance thanks to $22 million in new federal stimulus funds, said Gov. Edward G. Rendell.
“The national economic downturn has caused a significant number of people and families, through no fault of their own, to become homeless or nearly homeless,” said Rendell. “These funds could not have come at a better time. They’ll boost county and local efforts to help those teetering on the edge of homelessness and provide assistance to those who are homeless.”
The stimulus funds will provide financial assistance and other services intended to help people and families find stable housing, Rendell said. These services include short- and medium-term rental assistance, help with costs associated with moving into permanent housing, intensive case management, as well as relocation and stabilization services.
The federal Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program funds for Pennsylvania have two components: one competitively awarded and the other to be distributed according to a formula. In the competitive component, 10 projects in six counties will receive $1.8 million. In the formula-based allocation, more than $20 million will go to 63 counties according to a base grant amount and a “need factor” based upon demographic data.
The following competitive awards are based on scored outcome measures that include cost savings, percentage of households placed into permanent housing, and reducing time in homelessness:
Blair County
Blair County, on behalf of the Blair County Community Action Program, will receive $153,455 to develop a Homeless Prevention and Stabilization Program to provide housing counseling, case management, employment and training services, housing search and placement, and referral assistance.
Centre County
Centre County will receive $199,145 for a bridge housing program to provide financial assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services, with five apartment units for short-term rental, assistance with deposits, representative payee services, and targeted case management for persons with serous mental illness and other risk factors for homelessness. Two units will be designated for homelessness prevention that allows individuals to avoid admission to the local shelters or leave the county to receive homelessness assistance. The other three will be for rapid re-housing. Centre County Mental Health/Mental Retardation – Drug and Alcohol Office will be the lead agency.
Erie County
Erie County, on behalf of My Father’s House of Erie, will receive $188,000 for a program to address the housing and supportive service needs of female veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The funding will be used to hire two case managers and support two existing positions in Erie’s Program House and in the proposed project house.
Greene County
Greene County will receive $185,000 to develop a pilot rapid re-housing program for 16-21 year-olds who lack a permanent nighttime residence and have a previous history of foster care/residential placement. The program will gradually require participants to pay a progressive amount of rent as they move through the program, which is designed to prevent them from becoming homeless.
Lawrence County
Lawrence County will receive $200,000 to create the Family Stability Program, which will provide 45 homeless or near homeless families with short- or medium-term rental assistance. Working collaboratively, the county’s social services and children and youth services offices, and the Children’s Advocacy Center will identify families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness that are most in danger of having their children placed in protective services. These organizations will also cooperate to provide housing stabilization and case management services.
Lebanon County
The Lebanon County Community Action Partnership will receive $189,999 to provide stabilization services through intensive case management for youths “aging out” of the foster care system over a three-year period. In addition, youth can receive financial assistance with security deposits and rental and utility payments for up to 18 months. These efforts are designed to provide youths with more time to transition from foster care placement to independent living.
Philadelphia County
1. The City of Philadelphia, on behalf of the ACHIEVEability Keeping Families and Homes Together Project, will receive $90,000 toward a pilot program to serve low-income single parents who are newly unemployed and are enrolled in either an academic degree program or an equivalent trade school program. Financial assistance will include short- or medium-term rental assistance security or utility deposits, utility payments and small subsidies for these types of expenses.
2. The City of Philadelphia, on behalf of Women Against Abuse, will receive $200,000 to provide housing stabilization and housing relocation support for women and children who have had to flee their homes as a result of domestic violence. Women Against Abuse will serve an estimated 40 families or 120 individuals with its long-term housing program.
3. The City of Philadelphia, on behalf of Valley Youth House, will receive $199,888 to provide housing services targeting an underserved population of homeless young adults who self identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ). In addition to proving access to psycho-social support for LGBTQ homeless youth in Philadelphia, the project will provide housing “start-up funds” to youth who maintain employment and provide case management for six months. Eligible youth will participate in an intensive two-month housing education course while receiving individualized assistance in preparing to move into apartments.
4. The City of Philadelphia, on behalf of Homeless Advocacy Project (HAP), will receive $199,888 to expand its SOAR Project to underserved populations in Philadelphia, and serve 75 newly homeless disabled adults and disabled youth aging out of foster care in Philadelphia over a three-year period. HAP is the only legal services organization in Philadelphia that engages in direct outreach to the homeless community.
Additionally, the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network Inc. will receive $585,287 to provide legal services statewide to help people avoid the loss of their rental home and to help secure housing for households that may already be homeless.
For information on the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program and other programs administered by DCED, visit here or call 1-866-466-3972.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sixty-three counties will receive a total of $20,065,423 as part of the county housing partnerships component of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program. Below is a by-county breakdown of the funds each received.
Adams $343,905.00
Allegheny $826,654.00
Armstrong $357,494.00
Beaver $286,105.00
Bedford $188,473.00
Berks $317,515.00
Blair $257,482.00
Bucks $396,431.00
Butler $490,141.00
Cambria $363,288.00
Cameron $30,969.00
Carbon $344,447.00
Centre $454,064.00
Chester $300,814.00
Clearfield $378,325.00
Clinton $180,256.00
Columbia $344,664.00
Crawford $379,986.00
Cumberland $334,546.00
Dauphin $339,095.00
Delaware $331,879.00
Elk $176,810.00
Erie $422,359.00
Fayette $565,681.00
Forest $29,254.00
Franklin $480,386.00
Fulton $37,525.00
Greene $186,895.00
Huntingdon $186,733.00
Indiana $354,951.00
Jefferson $187,861.00
Juniata $38,595.00
Lackawanna $311,683.00
Lancaster $273,581.00
Lawrence $383,895.00
Lebanon $380,119.00
Lehigh $249,798.00
Luzerne $269,810.00
Lycoming $338,401.00
McKean $189,522.00
Mercer $406,279.00
Mifflin $191,267.00
Monroe $516,137.00
Montgomery $432,616.00
Northampton $423,523.00
Northumberland $365,361.00
Perry $174,932.00
Philadelphia $2,091,608.00
Pike $182,636.00
Potter $40,335.00
Schuylkill $516,093.00
Snyder $172,334.00
Somerset $354,719.00
Sullivan $28,702.00
Susquehanna $177,909.00
Tioga $180,053.00
Union $170,875.00
Warren $178,629.00
Washington $212,136.00
Wayne $184,805.00
Westmoreland $386,489.00
Wyoming $46,541.00
York $321,057.00
Total $20,065,428