6/2/2005
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Mayor announces funding from Housing Trust Fund
City to contribute $300,000 towards homelessness prevention efforts
INDIANAPOLIS - Mayor Bart Peterson today announced $300,000 from the Housing Trust Fund will be used to support Central Indiana Community Foundation's (CICF) Family Success Initiative. The dollars will be dedicated to rent assistance for those on the edge of homelessness. The city dollars will be available to match grants up to $300,000 from The Indianapolis Foundation, a CICF affiliate, focused on supportive services.
"This collaborative effort between the city and Central Indiana Community Foundation will reduce the numbers living on the edge and is a sign of progress on the Blueprint to End Homelessness," Mayor Peterson said. Rent assistance is an essential part of homelessness prevention efforts as called for in the Blueprint.
"As long as we have pervasive homelessness, we will never be a world class city. The Blueprint has aggressive goals, and this is one more step to alleviate homelessness. The combination of rent subsidies and supportive services will provide flexible housing for families who want to succeed, who want stability and a better life," Peterson said.
"Through the Family Success Initiative we want to create and inspire new sources of flexible funding to help families become self sufficient in central Indiana," Brian Payne, President of CICF and The Indianapolis Foundation, said. "This collaboration with the City is a great step forward in our community's effort to help self-motivated families reach the next level of success and break the cycles of poor results."
The funding, announced at the annual meeting of the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, will require approval from the Housing Trust Advisory Council. The Housing Trust Fund is dedicated to providing affordable housing in Indianapolis. One million dollars of the funds in the Housing Trust Fund came from the sale of the former Market Square Arena site.
The Family Success Initiative is a six-year commitment by Central Indiana Community Foundation to engage the community in developing the next generation of productive citizens through improving their families' lives today. The funding awarded through the initiative will focus on helping families remove obstacles and address challenges, including access to healthy and safe homes.
The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention is a nonprofit agency created in 1996 to advocate for homeless and near-homeless people in Indianapolis and to help organizations that serve them work together more effectively. CHIP led the Blueprint to End Homelessness planning effort and now serves as the lead agency to mobilize the community to work together to implement its recommendations.
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