Partner news release from:
U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
Washington State Office
909 First Avenue, Suite 200
Seattle, Washington 98104
www.hud.gov/washington
Grants help public housing residents “build a brighter future,”says HUD Secretary Castro
SEATTLE – To help public housing residents find jobs and educational opportunities, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded $712,704 to the Seattle Housing Authority to help residents achieve economic and housing independence under HUD’s Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) Service Coordinator grant program.
The ROSS award to the Seattle Housing Authority was among 11 grants made today totaling $4,045,215 in reserve and carry-over funds that were not awarded in the March, 2016 announcement of $32 million in ROSS-SC grants to 117 housing authorities and non-profits – including $245,820 to the Lummi Nation Housing Authority near Bellingham, Washington – under the ROSS-SC program.
HUD’s ROSS-SC program competitively awards funds to help public housing authorities, resident associations, non-profit organizations, Indian tribes or entities representing Indian tribes hire or retain “service coordinators” who work directly with residents to assess their needs and connect them with education, job training and placement programs, and/or computer and financial literacy services available in their community to promote self-sufficiency.
“Today, we make an affirmative investment in families living in public housing to help them build a brighter future for themselves and their children,” said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. “This funding allows our local partners to support residents’ goals and put them on the path toward self-sufficiency.”
The purpose of HUD’s ROSS-SC program is to encourage local, innovative strategies that link public housing assistance with public and private resources to enable participating families to increase earned income; reduce or eliminate the need for welfare assistance; and make progress toward achieving economic independence and housing self-sufficiency.
Today’s ROSS-SC award winners include the Blackfeet Housing Authority in Montana, the Ute Mountain Housing Authority in Colorado and housing authorities in Daytona Beach, Florida; Concord, North Carolina; Columbia, Missouri; Rochester, New Hampshire; Ithaca, New York; Brainerd, Minnesota; and Roxboro, North Carolina as well as the Delaware State, Southern Nevada Regional and the Cumberland Plateau, Virginia housing authorities and Chautauqua Opportunities, Inc. in New York and the New Jersey Institute for Disabilities.