Congress has finally passed a budget for FY2011. McKinney-Vento homeless assistance grants received a $40 million increase. Congress chose to increase funding for the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) by $65 million. The $65 million increase will go almost entirely to prevention and rapid re-housing. This will mean an increase of about 35 percent.
To read more and to view the potential allocations by county use this link: http://monarchhousing.org/2011/04/20/1-5-homeless-prevention-funding/
Please share this email with colleagues co-workers and associates.
Thanks.
Yours,
Richard W. Brown
Chief Executive Officer
Monarch Housing Associates
29 Alden StreetSuite 1B
Cranford, NJ 07016-2156
908-272-5363 ext. 225 908-382-6309 (Fax) mailto:rbrown@monarchhousing.org
Dear McKinney Campaign Advocates,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!! As most of you saw, late last week, Congress officially passed into law the final FY 2011 appropriations bill – which provided an approximately $40 million increase to McKinney-Vento programs. Norm Suchar, Director of the Center for Capacity Building at the Alliance, has written a great blog post about the impact of this funding level on HEARTH implementation. I would encourage everyone to read it!
You should be REALLY proud of the results of your work. We at the Alliance cannot stress enough how grateful we are to all of the INCREDIBLY hard work you have all put in over the last 16 months into this FY 2011 Campaign. Although the result is not the increase we would have liked or needed for these programs, this was one of the very few programs to actually see an INCREASE in funding. More than 60,000 additional people will have their homelessness ended or prevented this year – thanks to you! Together, you sent thousands of letters and made hundreds and hundreds of calls (not to mention the countless meetings, site visits, and other efforts), and Congress heard you. This is a testament to not only what great advocates you all are, but also to how effective and important your homelessness assistance programs are.
However, we all know there is still MUCH work to be done. Despite this victory, it unfortunately wasn’t enough. We still need a one-time BIG increase to McKinney-Vento programs in order to implement the HEARTH Act. We need to further expand the Emergency Solutions Grant program to replace HPRP, continue creating permanent supportive housing, improve assistance in rural areas, and implement all of the other great things the HEARTH Act does. So, we’re counting on help from all of you as we start our FY 2012 Campaign.
The next two or three months will be REALLY critical in deciding the final funding level. All signs indicate that they are trying to get back on a “normal” schedule for the FY 2012 appropriations cycle, which means that the HUD appropriations subcommittees will likely be writing their bills in June, making the next 6-8 weeks REALLY critical!
We look forward to working with you in the coming months on FY 2012 efforts! Everyone at the Alliance is so grateful for our partnership with each and every one of you, and Kate and I in particular are so honored to work so closely with such great folks.
Thanks so much!
Amanda Krusemark
Program and Policy Associate
National Alliance to End Homelessness
1518 K Street NW, Suite 410
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 942-8256