Federal monies help Hampden County fight homelessness
Date: 10/13/2009
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
BOSTON -- Four Springfield-based non-profits have received funding to combat homelessness from a pool of $17.9 million in federal recovery funds administered by the Patrick Administration.
The announcement was made Thursday that the Springfield Housing Authority would receive $153,500; Catholic Charities of Western Massachusetts, $220,125; HAP Inc. $1,923,040; and New England Farm Workers Council, $754,941.
These were the only agencies in Western Massachusetts to receive this funding.
"These funds come at a critical time for Massachusetts and complement our ongoing emergency assistance reform efforts by focusing on permanent housing as the long term solution to end homelessness," Gov. Deval Patrick said. "By targeting resources this way, we are not only helping out individuals and families in need, but we are stabilizing neighborhoods, relieving the strain on our shelter system and alleviating escalating costs."
Peter Gagliardi, executive director of HAP Inc. told Reminder Publications the funding will provide additional resources for that agency's on-going homelessness prevention programs. He said that homelessness in the Holyoke and Springfield areas is disproportionately high when compared to the state average.
"We have more than our share," he said.
The reason for these high numbers is not readily know he explained, as housing costs are much less expensive in other parts of the state.
Local shelters are full and homeless familes are living in motel rooms, he said.
The new funding will be spent to support efforts to relocate people from shelters to permanent housing. Gagliardi said his agency and the New England Farmworkers Council are collaborating on services so at-risk individuals and families can stay in their housing and never be forced to go to a shelter.
Some of the reasons for homelessness have been caused by the foreclosure, Gagliardi said, but that is not the sole motivation. A report released last week by First American CoreLogic, which collects national, state and local data on home prices, foreclosure and delinquency activity, real estate sales volume and mortgage loan activity, revealed the rate of foreclosures for the Springfield area among outstanding mortgage loans was 2.32 percent for the month of August, an increase of 1.23 percentage points compared to August of 2008 when the rate was 1.09 percent.
The report also noted that foreclosure activity in Springfield was lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 2.86 percent for August 2009, representing a 0.54 percentage point difference.
Gagliardi explained the current economic conditions have made homelessness worse, but his agency has been "doing fairly serious prevention work for the past several years." That work includes job counseling and other services.
The $17.9 million award to the Commonwealth is part of $1.2 billion issued nationwide by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through its Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program which provides short- and medium-term rental assistance and services to either prevent homelessness or to help those in shelters to be quickly re-housed.
