Area Shelters Get HUD Funding

The U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently appropriated nearly $11 million for 35 homeless aid initiatives throughout the state.

Area shelters to receive federal funding include Barbers Point Veterans-in-Progress, Kalealoa Permanent Housing for Veterans with Disabilities, Ola O Kahumana (Waianae) and Komo Mai Group Home (Pearl City).

The funds were provided through HUD’s Continuum of Care programs and will last through March of 2014.

Continuum of Care grants are awarded competitively to local projects that serve homeless clients, and they support a variety of aid programs, including street outreach, assessments, and transitional and permanent housing.

“The evidence is clear that every dollar we spend on those programs that help find a stable home for our homeless neighbors not only saves money, but quite literally saves lives,” stated HUD secretary Shaun Donovan.

“We know these programs work, and we know these grants can mean the difference between homeless persons and families finding stable housing or living on our streets.”

The funds are a part of the Obama Administration’s initiative to prevent and end homelessness.

“During this challenging budget climate, we must make certain that we don’t balance our books on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens, Donovan noted.

“When we make even modest investments in these programs, we see a measureable decline in homelessness.”.

In the most recent HUD homelessness estimate, approximately 3,000 cities and counties reported 633,782 homeless persons as of January 2012.

In Hawaii, HUD found that the population of homeless people increased 0.9 percent in 2012.