Homeless & Crisis Assistance

WASHINGTON, DC - May 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced funding today that will help New Jersey’s homeless access basic necessities and support services. A total of $16.25 million have been awarded to New Jersey communities by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through the Continuum of Care Program

AUSTIN, TX - May 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced a $3.3 million Continuum of Care grant to Texas which will directly fund seven local organizations providing housing and supportive services to an estimated 246 homeless individuals or those at risk of homelessness, helping to transition them out of poverty and toward self-reliance.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) Tuesday announced southern West Virginia has been awarded more than $1.1 million for homeless housing and support initiatives.

Sioux City, IA - May 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan awarded more than $216 million to nearly 700 new homeless programs across the country. This amount represents $26 million more than last yea...

WASHINGTON, DC - May 3, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded more than $23 million in grants to organizations which will help state and local communities, as well as non-profit organizations, improve their use of federal funds to revitalize neighborhoods, help the homeless and produce more affordable housing.

New Haven, CT - May 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) announced a grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to Columbus House, a non-profit based in New Haven that provides meals, housing, support programs, and job training services to the local homeless and disadvantaged population.

ANCHORAGE, AK - April 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded $59,632 to two new homeless programs in Alaska.

SEATTLE, WA - April 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded $2,199,963 to 11 new homeless programs in Washington state.

April 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- John L. Neal, Jr., 51, pled guilty on April 27, 2011, in United States District Court in East St. Louis, Ill.-, to an Indictment charging four counts of bank robbery, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded more than $216 million to nearly 700 new homeless programs across the country. The grants announced today are $26 million more than last year’s grants and, combined with renewal funding announced earlier this year, represents the most homelessness assistance ever awarded by HUD. HUD is also continuing to confront rural homelessness by targeting a record $16.4 million to 87 never-before-funded programs in less populated areas of the country (see attached list of the local programs awarded grants today or visit HUD’s website).

Anchorage, AK - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $915,440 to renew support for a statewide HIV-AIDS housing program administered by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. The t...

LANSING, MI - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced today that he is working with Oakland County Register of Deeds Bill Bullard, and other local and federal authorities, to look into questionable mortgage documentation filed with Michigan's Register of Deeds offices during the current foreclosure crisis.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that more than a thousand extremely low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS will continue to receive permanent housing as a result of $23 million in grants. During each of the next three years, this HUD funding will help provide permanent supportive housing for 1,015 households so they can manage their illnesses while receiving critically needed support services.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has just released national data showing that the number of homeless people was essentially unchanged from 2009 to 2010. The number, based on counts conducted by localities and states across the nation in January 2010 (called Point-In-Time [PIT] counts), went from 643,067 to 649,879, an increase of one percent. However, there was a three percent increase in the number of homeless people who were unsheltered.

April 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As a part of Financial Literacy Month the Idaho Department of Finance is promoting online resources for homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments, or who may be at risk of falling behind on their mortgage payments. “Homeowners need to know that federal and state laws are in place to protect them from mortgage relief scams that have sprung up during the mortgage crisis,” said Gavin Gee, Department of Finance director.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- In the wake of a settlement between 14 U.S. mortgage servicers and foreclosed homeowners, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced landmark legislation to prevent future servicer fraud and errors, improve foreclosure counseling and prevention, and reform oversight of mortgage-based investing.

Washington, DC - April 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- This week, Congressman Al Green (TX-09) introduced two amendments which focus on housing counseling and the Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program to the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (H.R. 1473).

April 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The city of Las Vegas will use more than $6.8 in grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for affordable housing, community development and homeless assistance. The Las Vegas City Council at last week’s meeting approved plans for the grants to be used to fund at least 39 projects/programs including:

April 121, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A report released today by NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy finds that the housing crisis has taken a toll on New York City’s multi-family rental properties. The report, the State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods 2010, also examines commuting patterns within the city, highlights new data on subsidized rental housing, and shows housing and demographic trends in each of the city’s 59 community districts.

Boston, MA - April 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A group of major national and local philanthropies today announced the creation of a nonprofit organization to engage, educate, and support funders committed to ending homelessness in America. Funders Together to End Homelessness, started in 2004 as an affinity group of foundation and corporate funders, is now an independent organization of private philanthropies whose mission is to increase funders’ investments in solutions proven to end homelessness. The national organization’s Board of Directors includes representatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Fannie Mae, the Melville Charitable Trust, and seven other foundations active in ending homelessness in communities across the country.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Alfred Evans, 28, of Washington, D.C., was convicted by a jury today of charges stemming from the April 2003 murder of Reginald Brighthart, a 35-year-old homeless man, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.

March 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition is convening its 12th Annual Statewide Summit on Homelessness and Housing April 12-13, 2011 in Hutchinson, Kansas at the Ramada Conference Center, starting at 4:30 pm on the 12th through 5 pm on the 13th. The theme is “Making it Crystal Clear: Homelessness in Kansas”

WASHINGTON, DC - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- How will the United States work to solve homelessness? The latest issue of Cityscape, a quarterly magazine published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, examines homelessness and the organizations that are working to assist America’s homeless population

QUINCY, MA - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- 2011¡XSouth Shore residents in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure will soon have access to expanded foreclosure prevention counseling services through a joint initiative sponsored by the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds, Neighborhood Housing Services of the South Shore and the South Shore HOME Consortium.

NORFOLK, VA - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The City of Norfolk is pleased to announce that homelessness in Norfolk has decreased by 4% from January 2010 to January 2011. Mayor Paul D. Fraim states, "I am quite pleased that in two of the most difficult economic years, our community has worked together to continue to end homelessness. We know that we still have much work to do and that there are still many in our community in need of our assistance to put homelessness or the threat of losing their housing behind them." Overall, 536 persons were identified as being homeless during the 24-hour, 2011 Point-in-Time count. This compares to 556 counted in January 2010 which also showed a 4% decrease from the previous count in 2009.

NEW YORK, NY - March 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens) and Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan & the Bronx); Mike Hickey, Executive Director of the Center for New York City Neighborhoods; Willie Rapfogel, CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty; Mitchell Kent of the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs; Bisoondaye Maharaj, a struggling Queens homeowner who has benefitted from federal mortgage programs; and housing advocate Seema Agnani, Executive Director of the Chhaya Community Development Corporation, gathered at City Hall to release a report detailing the impact on New York City of Republican efforts to terminate federal foreclosure-avoidance programs. At a time when our economy and real estate market remain fragile, Republicans have offered no alternative plans to stem the foreclosure crisis.

WASHINGTON, DC March 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it will begin the orderly wind down of its remaining portfolio of $142 billion in agency-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Starting this month, Treasury plans to sell up to $10 billion in agency-guaranteed MBS per month, subject to market conditions

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – March 17, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — For more than 20 years, the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund tax campaign has encouraged the citizens of Utah to pledge a donation on their tax return to the fund. This year,...

WASHINGTON D.C. - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) --Today Congresswoman Laura Richardson (CA-37) introduced an amendment to H.R. 861, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) Termination Act, which would avoid the abrupt end of the NSP, a program that has helped rescue communities devastated by the national financial crisis.

Washington, D.C. - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Over the past two weeks Congressman Howard Berman (CA-28) has voted against three separate Republican proposals that would hurt struggling homeowners and further exacerbate the foreclosure crisis facing California. Congressman Berman has been working to help homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure and recently hosted a Homeowners Assistance and Retention Workshop in Van Nuys where over 100 Valley residents received free counseling.