HUD Says It Helped 94K Families Avoid Homelessness in 2023
The latest figures from HUD also show more than 93,000 people benefited from public housing and vouchers this year.
WASHINGTON – The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said it worked with public housing programs nationwide to help more than 94,000 households exit or avoid homelessness in 2023.
More than 8,200 households benefited from public housing and more than 85,000 others used housing vouchers. The White House said it has made progress on its goal to permanently house people experiencing homelessness. From fiscal years 2021 to 2022, there was an 8% increase in people exiting homelessness into permanent housing, HUD said.
“HUD and our community partners have acted aggressively to end homelessness by working with communities to get people into housing and provide the resources necessary to help prevent people from ever becoming homeless,” HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said. “We believe one person experiencing homelessness is too many. That is why HUD and all of our partners across the administration are doing all we can to address homelessness with resolve and care.”
Through the end of the year, HUD is projected to serve 330,000 people through grants provided to homeless service organizations (called continuums of care), an increase of 15% over grants funded in 2022. In addition, strides have been made to assist veterans experiencing homelessness, HUD said.
“In November 2023, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it has permanently housed 38,847 homeless veterans through October of 2023 — surpassing the calendar year goal to house 38,000 veterans two months early,” the department said.
In addition, HUD provided public housing authorities with greater regulatory flexibility to provide assistance, including issuing emergency housing vouchers while paperwork was being processed.
“Emergency housing vouchers have been a powerful force for addressing homelessness in communities across the country,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Richard J. Monocchio said.
“The partnerships between housing authorities and continuums of care, the extra support for residents’ housing searches, landlords working with tenants to lease up quickly, and other flexibilities have demonstrated the power of creating programs that can meet urgent, local needs at a time of crisis.”
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