HUD Awards $720K Grant to Memphis Housing Authority

The new grant funding will be used to hire and staff three Service Coordinator positions for three years. The coordinators, who will be assigned to help residents at Foote Homes, Montgomery Plaza, and G.E. Patterson Pointe, will coordinate support services and other activities designed to help residents achieve economic independence and housing self-sufficiency.

“We need to do everything we can to help improve the availability of quality, affordable housing in Memphis during these tough economic times,” said Congressman Steve Cohen. “These new federal funds will help families across our city get the housing assistance they need and help them become more self-sufficient so they can lead happy, healthy, productive lives.”

The local award is part of $31 million in grants to public housing authorities and non-profit organizations. MHA expects the new ROSS funding will help them reach an additional 210 housing authority residents.

The three service coordinators will be responsible for ensuring that public housing authority residents – be they families, elderly, or disabled residents – have access to the services they need to live independently. The coordinators will work directly with residents to assess their needs and connect them with educational opportunities, job training and placement programs, and computer and financial literacy services already available in the community.

“It’s not enough to provide people with shelter. If we are going to reduce poverty by 10 percent in the next 10 years, we have to help them break down the barriers and achieve financial independence,” said Memphis Mayor A C Wharton, Jr. “We’ve seen this program help residents get an education; we’ve seen it help them get jobs, and we’ve seen it help people move into their own homes.”

In the past five years, MHA ROSS programs have helped 42 residents complete financial literacy courses, enrolled 28 residents in GED courses, helped one resident obtain their Master’s Degree and one obtain their Bachelor’s Degree, and helped 219 in obtaining jobs.