President Clinton announced in his weekly radio address Saturday a series of initiatives that will be carried out by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, including the largest-ever package of grants to help the homeless. The initiatives also are designed to address housing segregation.
''The steps we're taking now will create new opportunity for the homeless, for hard-pressed working families and for those struggling to buy their first home,'' Clinton said.
About $895 million of the grants will fund 2,633 projects in more than 350 communities nationwide to help homeless families move from temporary to permanent housing, get treatment for substance abuse and gain access to health care, job training and child care. The remaining grants will help 312 communities maintain emergency shelters.
Georgia was awarded a total of $15.5 million. U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo did not share exact figures city by city, but he did say, "Santa was ... very happy with Atlanta, Georgia, this year."
Much of the nation has been socked in by harsh weather recently, making it critical that people on the streets have access to help. Cuomo said he expects 200,000 homeless people to benefit from the programs.
The money will help people make the transition from street life to independent living, said Bob Reeg, health policy analyst for the National Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington.
"This is ... used in communities across the nation for permanent housing, transitional housing, emergency shelter and just a ton of support services – health care, child care, transportation assistance," Reeg said. "It's certainly not enough, but it's providing a lot of really important services in communities that would not be provided otherwise."
Clinton also announced an initiative to help integrate public housing projects nationwide.
Public housing authorities will conduct studies to figure out which public housing projects are segregated by race or by income. Current tenants will not be moved, but new tenants will be offered housing in patterns that make the most segregated buildings or complexes more diverse, Cuomo said.
"I believe that diversity is a great source of strength for this nation," he said. "Public housing should mirror that."
Clinton also announced that the ceiling for mortgages administered through the Federal Housing Administration will rise from $219,000 to $239,250 to keep up with the housing market.
That helps people "on the verge of being able to afford homeownership," Cuomo said. "The value of homes has gone up and we want to keep pace."
The GOP, in the Republican radio address, said President-elect George W. Bush is committed to ''mobilizing the armies of compassion'' to help the needy.
Bush also has promised to create an ''office of faith-based action'' in the White House, Kansas Gov. Bill Graves noted.
Graves said faith-based programs in his state and in Texas, where Bush was governor for five years, are ''innovative partnerships'' that will work.
Copyright 2000. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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