This article was written by Catherine Davies-Nelson, a student in the UST MS degree in Real Estate.
Over 20 million awarded to Homeless Programs in Minnesota for 2012
Minnesota homeless programs were awarded nearly 21.5 million dollars by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to renew funding across the 163 homeless programs operating in Minnesota. Secretary Shaun Donovan, said the grants awarded “will literally keep the doors of our shelters open and will help those on the front lines of ending homelessness do what they do best. It’s incredible that as we work to recover from the greatest economic decline since the Great Depression, the total number of homeless Americans is declining, in large part because of these funds.”
Ending homelessness has been set as a top priority both nationally and locally. The Obama Administration’s plan Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, set the goal of ending chronic homelessness and homelessness among veterans by 2015, and ending homelessness among families, youth, and children by 2020.
Locally, ending homelessness in Minnesota has been set as a top priority. The Minneapolis Downtown Council announced in its Intersections 2025 to end homelessness by 2025. Their plan objectives include to “Extend housing and outreach efforts so that the 300-500 people who sleep outside or in inhumane places have shelter, treatment and job training that keeps them off the streets.”
The HUD grants are divided into the various homelessness programs by region. The approximate dollar amount breakdowns are as follows:
- Minneapolis/Hennepin County homelessness programs awarded 8.1 million
- Saint Paul/Ramsey County homelessness programs awarded 4.5 million
- Rochester/Southeast Minnesota homelessness programs awarded 1.5 million
- Dakota/Anoka/Scott/Washington/Carver homelessness programs awarded 2.3 million
- Duluth/St. Louis County homelessness programs awarded 2.5 million
- St. Cloud/Central Minnesota homelessness programs awarded $830,000
- Moorhead/West Central homelessness programs awarded $600,000
- Northeast Minnesota homelessness programs awarded $302,000
- Northwest Minnesota homelessness programs awarded nearly $280,000
The funds were awarded through the competitive Continuum of Care umbrella based on Fiscal Year 2011 monetary allocation.
To learn more about ending homelessness in Minnesota, please visit the website below to find a homelessness program near you. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=11_minnesota_renewals.pdf
Tags: Ending homelessness, HUD grants, Intersections 2025, Minneapolis Downtown Council, Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness
