HUD Awards Greater Norwalk $1.3 Million for Homeless Assistance
SHELTERS
The Norwalk Hour
Anthony Rotunno
Boston University Washington News Service
2/22/07
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Tuesday more than $1.3 million in funding for Fairfield County homeless assistance projects, but state officials say the sum falls short of what is needed.
Of the $1,327,150 total, only $49,017 will go towards the construction of a new Westport housing project – an amount that fails to adequately address the need for additional new units, according to members of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, a liberal group that works to minimize the problem across the state.
“It’s appreciated, but it’s not enough,” Carol Walter, executive director of the coalition, said of the HUD money. “HUD has been doing a good job of renewing programs, but the money we’ve used to create new beds has largely gone away.”
The remaining $1,278,138 will go to support existing projects in the Fairfield County area, including United Way of Norwalk and Wilton and Norwalk Emergency Shelter, Inc. Despite cutting funds for new programs, Walter said, HUD has continued to provide adequate funds to successful area programs.
“The good part [of the grants] is all of the fund renewal requests got renewed,” she said. “Programs are continuing to get renewed by HUD, so we’re not losing what we already have.”
The new housing unit will be built by the Interfaith Housing Association, a not-for-profit, Westport-based organization operating nine other buildings that serve between 50-60 area homeless each night.
In 2003, HUD gave more than $320,000 to the Interfaith Housing Association for the construction of new housing projects, but since then the number has continued to fall, Powell said.
Although any HUD money used to create more permanent housing units is a step toward alleviating homelessness, the federal government’s priority has shifted away from funding new supportive housing projects, according to Peter Powell, president of Interfaith.
“We raise more than 90 percent of our funding privately,” he said. “I think federal priorities have changed. I would hope people realize we know how to solve homelessness – we need more housing.”
Nationwide, the HUD grants totaled nearly $1.4 billion, a sum just shy of the maximum amount ever given by the department to organizations working to reduce homelessness, according to HUD spokesperson Brian Sullivan.
Of the $1.4 billion, only 16 percent went to funding new projects, but Sullivan said this percentage is reflective of the funding each organization asks for.
“The breakdown of the numbers is largely driven of what’s being asked of us,” he said. “In order to get new projects funded, you’ve got to be successful [with existing ones].”
The lack of available housing often hits harder in smaller cities, Walter said, because there are fewer options to fall back on when the available services are full.
Norwalk’s reputation as one of Connecticut’s wealthier cities does not spare it from dealing with the problem of homelessness, she said.
“The fact that there are people in any town, let alone the more affluent ones, who do not know where they are going to sleep on a daily basis is unacceptable in a society like ours,” Walter said.
Because many homeless assistance programs focus more on providing services to the individuals they help, Sullivan said, HUD is trying to build incentives in its funding programs that emphasize providing housing over services.
“Nobody but HUD can provide housing support,” he said. “We try to place more emphasis on housing so people can begin to access it to a greater degree – whether a person is experiencing temporary homelessness or chronic homelessness, this money is saving lives.”
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