Cape Cod Receives $1 Million for Homeless Programs
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 – Cape Cod homeless programs received more than $1 million in federal aid Tuesday as part of the single largest Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant program ever.
Out of the $1.4 billion nationwide and the more than $60.3 million given to Massachusetts, Cape Cod received about $1.08 million, including new money for The Friends of Baybridge Inc., and renewed funding for four other organizations.
The money was awarded on a competitive basis to transitional housing programs through the Continuum of Care program, which helps provide a “more stable home environment than emergency shelters,” said Brian Sullivan, a HUD spokesman in Washington.
Tom Lynch, executive director of the Barnstable Housing Authority, said his organization received two renewal grants, funding each of its “priorities.”
The “Housing First” program, which covers the entire Cape and provides 35 housing vouchers for individuals with HIV/AIDS, received $296,940.
“It targets a very specific population that has some unique housing needs and of course medical needs also,” Lynch said about the 12-year-old program.
The organization also received $44,112 for “The Winter Street Project,” which assists families of persons with HIV/AIDS.
Lynch said the program is one of few in Barnstable County to help families get support.
Grant money also went to The Friends of Baybridge, Inc., which received $280,480; the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, which received $169,680; the Housing Assistance Corporation, which received $151,841; and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which received $145,920.
Last year Massachusetts received $54.4 million, and this year’s $60.3 million is the state’s highest award, said Kristine Foye, a HUD regional spokeswoman.
The 2004 fiscal budget for HUD will fund 219 programs in Massachusetts, and each organization will receive the money at the start of its fiscal year, Foye said
“This unprecedented level of funds will go directly to those on the front lines, who work tirelessly everyday to bring an end to chronic homelessness and who provide services to the many individuals and families without a home of their own,” HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson said in a press release.
