WASHINGTON, DC - In an effort to help prevent homelessness and rapidly re-house families who have recently lost their homes, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today announced that Rhode Island will receive $3.28 million and the City of Woonsocket will receive $545,000 in Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program (HPRP) funding.

Reed authored the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act and led the effort to include this funding in the Recovery Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009.

"While strides have been made to reduce homelessness over the last couple of years, the current economic decline has halted such progress. We have already seen tent cities forming, shelters turning away people in need, and most major cities reporting double digit increases in the numbers of families experiencing homelessness. This bill invests over $3.8 million in Rhode Island for targeted homelessness assistance grants and provides local communities with greater flexibility to spend the money on programs that work," said Reed, a senior member of the Banking Committee, which oversees federal housing policy. "We cannot afford to ignore this problem. These federal dollars will help local communities assist families on the brink of becoming homeless. It is a wise investment of federal resources that will save taxpayers money in the long run by preventing homelessness, promoting the development of permanent supportive housing, and optimizing self-sufficiency."

HPRP funding offers a variety of short- and medium-term financial assistance to those who would otherwise become homeless, many due to sudden economic crisis. This can include short-term rental assistance (up to three months), medium-term rental assistance (up to 18 months), security deposits, utility deposits, utility payments, moving cost assistance, and hotel vouchers. Payments will not be made directly to households, but only to third parties, such as landlords or utility companies.

The program also provides assistance to rapidly re-house persons who are homeless and likely to remain stably housed, whether subsidized or unsubsidized, once the HPRP assistance concludes.