Marcia L. Fudge, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), joined Mayor Van Johnson on Monday in Savannah to announce a nationwide spending program aimed at addressing the issue of homelessness in America. Together with the Chatham-Savannah Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Chatham-Savannah Continuum of Care was awarded $4,104,782 and the check was presented to representatives at a joint press conference in Savannah’s city hall.
Funds for Savannah will be dispersed across eight local programs, with The Housing Authority of Savannah ($1,591,450) receiving the largest amount. The City of Savannah received $935,275 while Union Mission got $478,097.
“Now, more than ever, we are doing all we can to get people off the street and into permanent homes with access to services. That is why we are making sure the service providers on the frontlines of this crisis have the resources they need,” said Fudge on Monday.
The nationwide total for Continuum of Care program awards announced Monday was $3,157,262,992.00. The funds go to help start, improve or operate more than 7,000 projects that provide housing assistance or supportive services to people experiencing homelessness, as well as costs related to planning and data collection.
Fudge is the 18th HUD Secretary and was approved for the position on March 10, 2021. She is the first black woman to lead HUD since Patricia Roberts Harris was tapped to run it under President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
“At HUD, we have served or permanently housed 1.2 million people experiencing homelessness in the last three years alone, building on President Biden’s efforts to keep Americans housed,” said Fudge. “The historic awards we are announcing today will expand community capacity to assist more people in obtaining the safety and stability of a home, along with the support they need to achieve their life goals.”
After the press conference, she sat for a roundtable discussion with community organizations like Chatham-Savannah Authority for the Homeless, the City of Savannah, the Housing Authority of Savannah, the Savannah-Chatham Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Community Housing Services Agency, Union Mission and Family Promise.
Johnson, Savannah’s 67th mayor, addressed homelessness in January at his inauguration.
“Some people are homeless. But you know what? Come on up to the table. Let’s find a way to get you a place to live,” he said. “Because we agree as a family that homelessness is wrong … I don’t know about you, but some of us are one paycheck away from being homeless.”
Savannah’s $4 million check is part of the $58,200,367 given to Georgia on Monday through Continuum of Care program grants. Georgia’s total is the 17th most received by state, according to the HUD press release on the program.
California ($601 million), New York ($303 million), Texas ($162 million), Illinois ($158 million) and Fudge’s native Ohio ($153.5 million) make up the top-five states in terms of funds allocated.
The $3.16 billion announced Monday represents the largest-ever amount of Continuum of Care program funding awarded to communities to address homelessness in history, according to the release.
Fudge was scheduled to visit local sites providing affordable housing in and around the city of Savannah later Monday afternoon.
This article appears in January 2024.
