WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bill Delahunt today announced $2,857,946 in federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address homelessness and bolster housing programs in the city of Quincy.

“Over the years, cities and towns on the South Shore have come to rely on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to boost access to affordable housing and to improve the quality of life for everyone in our community,” Delahunt said. “With this program under attack in Washington and funding levels being cut, the outstanding work of the City of Quincy and local human service providers has helped in our efforts to keep this program alive.”

The Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) is providing three allocations of federal funding for the city’s affordable housing programs as well as emergency shelter and services for the area’s homeless population. The funding is a slight decrease from what was provided in the last fiscal year. They include: $2,042,480 under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, $91,717 under the Emergency Shelter Grant Program and $723,749 under the HOME Investment Partnership Program.  These awards will be distributed to the City and local non-profit agencies that provide direct aid to local residents who are facing an immediate crisis

“This funding provides a critical influx of money for housing, health care, and other services for our residents in the most desperate need of assistance,” said Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch.

“As we continue to see more families and individuals either facing homelessness or falling into homelessness everyday in our local communities, we are thankful for these resources that will allow organizations like Father Bills & MainSpring to shelter everyone in need, and to continue our mission to end homelessness one life at a time,” said John Yazwinski, the President and CEO of Father Bill’s & Mainspring.

The CDBG Program provides grants to local governments to develop affordable housing and expand economic opportunities, principally for low and moderate income people. The Emergency Shelter Grants Program provides annual grants to improve the quality and number of homeless shelters, while HOME is the largest Federal block grant to state and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households. Each year it allocates approximately $2 billion among the States and hundreds of localities nationwide.

In awarding these grants, the Department of Housing & Urban Development considers an array of factors including an area’s population, unemployment and poverty rates.  The priority is on providing emergency shelter, permanent and transitional housing and social services. 

Further information is available online at www.hud.gov or through the Congressman’s local offices in Quincy.

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