St. Louis City Launches “Hope Is Moving In” Initiative
By Cara | October 12, 2009
Congrats to our very own Mullanphy ILC (4200 Shaw) which has been chosen to serve as one of the 4 hubs of this program! More details to come… — CJ
Mayor Francis G. Slay announced that the City of St. Louis will launch a new homeless initiative this month titled “Hope Is Moving In.”
The initiative was made possible through funding from HUD’s Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-Housing Program resulting from the passage of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The City of St. Louis received a total of $8.4 million to develop programs designed to prevent homelessness, rapidly re-house persons who are homeless, reduce barriers to securing housing and provide permanent housing.
While St. Louis has reduced homelessness by 30% in the last three years, this new funding will accelerate those efforts dramatically resulting in many more of the remaining homeless people to be housed.
In an announcement during a press conference in the City Hall Rotunda, Mayor Slay stated, “While St. Louis has achieved one of the lowest rates of homelessness in the entire country, we believe this new funding source will mean that many more homeless people will have a permanent place to live instead of being in emergency shelters, on the streets or in City parks.”
Central to “Hope Is Moving In,” is the establishment of five hubs which will be located throughout the city where people can receive assistance. One hub will be located downtown at the Housing Resource Center, 800 N. Tucker, and will provide rapid re-housing. The other four will be located within Community Education Schools of the St. Louis Public Schools. Each hub will have a team of providers including case managers, benefit coordinators, housing specialists, housing inspectors, legal professionals and financial counselors.
Bill Siedhoff, the city’s Human Services Director said, “This is the most massive undertaking to date in terms of addressing the housing needs of homeless people and represents a tremendous partnership within our Continuum of Care that is unprecedented.” The city’s Continuum of Care that was involved in the development of this program consists of homeless providers, city and state government, business, faith- based organizations and advocates.
For more information on the “Hope Is Moving In” initiative, contact the Homeless Services Division of the Department of Human Services at 657-1704. Information can also be obtained by calling the United Way at 211 or 1-800-427-4626.
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