Congressman Salazar announces $240,000 in federal funding to help Pueblo residents secure housing
Providing low-income families, the elderly and handicapped individuals with decent, safe and affordable housing
WASHINGTON, DC – May 14, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Today U.S. Congressman John Salazar announced that $240,000 in federal funding has been allocated to the Housing Authority of the City of Pueblo as a part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) Grant Program. The grant will enable the Housing Authority of Pueblo to hire a qualified individual to implement the objectives of the grant; to assess the needs of residents of conventional Public Housing or Indian housing and coordinate available resources in the community to meet those needs. Pueblo Housing Authority officials say that in Pueblo, the funding will be used to link residents to various resources to include but not limited to job training, education and employment. The program will entail a 5-year time frame for interested participants to complete their goals. A Needs Assessment will be conducted for all of the residents who enroll in the program and their progress will be monitored and the results will be documented for future reference.
Today Congressman Salazar offered the following comment on the funding.
“During tough times we need to pull together and help members of our communities find housing that they can afford. There are too many folks in the Pueblo area who are struggling to find shelter. Hopefully this funding will help the Housing Authority of Pueblo to continue with its mission of providing low-income families, the elderly and handicapped individuals with decent, safe and affordable housing.”
On the funding, Pueblo Housing Authority Executive Director Frank D. Pacheco offered the following comment:
“We are very happy and honored to have received this very competitive grant. Interested public housing residents will be given an opportunity to come out of their level of poverty and become a part of main stream society as contributing citizens. We have over 300 single mothers who will be contacted about the program and those who participate will certainly benefit from this award.”
The purpose of the ROSS Service Coordinator program is to provide funding to hire and maintain Service Coordinators who will assess the needs of residents of conventional Public Housing or Indian housing and coordinate available resources in the community to meet those needs. This program works to promote the development of local strategies to coordinate the use of assistance under the Public Housing program with public and private resources, for supportive services and resident empowerment activities. These services should enable participating families to increase earned income, reduce or eliminate the need for welfare assistance, make progress toward achieving economic independence and housing self-sufficiency or, in the case of elderly or disabled residents, help improve living conditions and enable residents to age-in-place.
Contact: (202) 225-4761
Eric Wortman, Communications Director
Contact: (202) 536-6190
Edward Stern, Deputy Press Secretary
