PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia is one of 17 U.S. cities and states to win a Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Office of Homeless Services Director Liz Hersh knows what it takes to prevent and solve youth homelessness. She said she was pleased with the award of nearly $9 million — but not overwhelmed.
“Almost $9 million is a lot of money,” Hersh said. “It’s almost as much as we asked for. But we appreciate every penny and we’ll put it to good use.”
The money will be used to create a project for housing and services. The Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program attacks youth homelessness by funding the creation of coordinated, community-based prevention solutions in cities and towns across the United States and sharing the results with other communities.
Regional HUD administrator Matt Heckles predicted the grant would lead to huge progress in Philadelphia’s fight against youth homelessness.
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“It will allow us at HUD, also, to learn from what is going to happen here in Philadelphia. We will see the money put to good use, and we will take the lessons learned and see that those things are built back into the programs that we administer every day.”
HUD awarded a total of $84 million this round to cities across the country. This is the seventh year of the program. A map of all YHDP-supported communities can be seen online.