Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 3-18-16 Edition

Local
Hillsborough HEART Project Gets Award From HUD
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that organizations in Florida that aid the homeless received $73 mil- lion from their Continuum of Care Grant Pro- gram.
HUD estimates there were 564,708 persons homeless on a single night in 2015.
Tampa/Hillsborough County received the most in the seven-county area at $5,005,038, with the biggest award, $1,803,678, going to the Hillsborough HEART Project, managed by the Agency For Community Treatment Services (ACTS).
Jana Balicki, Chief Housing Division Ad- ministrator, said the funds will be used to work with 100 people suffering from chronic home- lessness.
“They have to be homeless for at least a year, and meet other criteria. They also have to be medical and substance abuse criteria.
“We take referrals from several agencies law enforcement, and from area homeless shelters. They are all screened carefully for our Housing First Program.”
Balicki said the agency has 100 apartments leased all over Hillsborough County and they have professionals who work with the residents in their apartments.
“We help keep them stabilized. The housing we provide for them is permanent, and HUD mandates they don’t have to continue the service programs to maintain their housing.
“We have leasing agreements with 26 land- lords, and we will be leasing more units as they
Scenes like this have become all too familiar in the Tampa Bay area.
become successful. We try to house them in areas they are familiar with.”
Balicki said the program is not for families, and turnover is very low.
“We’re proud to say we’re at 97% occupancy right now.
“The program is open for men and women and we have to reapply to keep the program funded annually.
“What we’re seeing is a decrease of homeless people coming in, but there are more people in need of housing. The idea is to get the more se- vere cases and veterans off the streets. With the success we’ve had, we still have a long way to go.”
Balicki said the program also assists their clients in generating income, either through em- ployment, or through disability or other revenue sources.
“We’d like to see them be able to eventually pay all or some of their rent.”
Youth Mentoring Group Joins Residents In East Tampa Cleanup
Richard Muhammad (right) and members of the BYC.
On March 12th, volunteers and community leaders from East Tampa joined a youth mentoring group, Building Your Community (BYC) for a community cleanup project.
The BYC, founded by Jihad Amos, was created to put young people in a better position to be successful and at the same time teach them the values and reward of giving
back to their community. Student Study Group Leader, Richard Muham- mad, said he joined three members of the BYC in walking the streets of East Tampa and
picking up trash.
“This is just the beginning.
We have a lot of future projects planned for other areas of the city, and we will be returning to East Tampa.”
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7-A