30 Apr, 2012 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
SALT LAKE CITY- Lt. Gov. Greg Bell and the Division of Housing and Community Development released the results of a snapshot survey showing Utah’s homeless population during a press conference on Monday, April 30 at 10 a.m. in room 240 of the State Capitol. The survey reflects a decrease of 9 percent in chronic homelessness since last year and 72 percent since 2005.
The decrease in the chronically homeless population from January 2011 to January 2012 can be attributed to the State’s Housing First Initiative. This initiative has been supported by the following permanent supportive housing communities: 100 units at Sunrise Metro Apartments (2007), 84 units at Grace Mary Manor (2008), 201 units at Palmer Court (2009), Freedom Landing, a housing facility for veterans (January 2010) and Kelly Benson Apartments (June 2010).
“Without a doubt, Utah’s “Housing First” approach continues to show that ending chronic homelessness is entirely realistic,” said Lt. Gov. Greg Bell, Chairman of the State Homeless Coordinating Committee. “This is truly a victory for those involved in the process. Collaboration between government, non-profit and private agencies is the key to Utah’s success. By placing our chronically homeless population into permanent supportive housing with case management, we have seen real change in individuals’ lives and simultaneously created efficiencies within our community systems of care.”
The Point in Time count is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of an effort to collect data on the homeless and their use of services. HUD defines homeless as persons who are sleeping in places not meant for human habitation, sleeping in emergency shelters or living in transitional housing but were previously living on the streets. Persons may also be considered homeless if, within seven days, they are being evicted from private dwelling units or being discharged from institutions with no expectation of having a nighttime residence upon eviction or discharge.
The point-in-time count is an annual effort to count the number of homeless individuals in Utah on a single designated night. The method used includes drawing data from the UHMIS database to count all homeless persons currently in a form of shelter and utilizing homelessness service providers and to seek out and count those individuals who are living on the street, in cars or other makeshift shelters.
In 2004, Utah embraced a nationwide movement and developed and is implementing the State’s strategy “HousingWorks” to end chronic homelessness within 10-years. Under this model, chronically homeless citizens go from the streets or homeless shelters, into their own apartments. The housing is permanent and “affordable,” meaning tenants pay 30 percent of their income for rent. The model also provides job training and other supports to help tenants re-integrate with society. For more information, please visit http://www.housingworks.utah.gov.
Utah’s Homeless Task Force and Ten-Year Homeless Action Plan are managed by the Division of Housing and Community Development under the Utah Department of Community and Culture.
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Category Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP), Housing and Community Development |
27 Apr, 2012 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
For Immediate Release
April 27, 2012
Contact:
Shad West
Housing and Community Development Division
801.946.6183
Geoffrey Fattah
Department of Community and Culture
80.245.7205
Lt. Gov. Greg Bell to Announce Point in Time Count Homeless Numbers
WHO:
Lt. Gov.Greg Bell
Gordon D. Walker, Director, Utah Division of Housing and Community Development
WHAT:
Lt. Gov. Greg Bell will release the Annual Point in Time Count results. This year’s survey reflects a decrease in chronic homelessness since last year. Actual figures will not be released before the press conference.
WHEN:
Monday, April 30, 2012
10 a.m.
WHERE:
Capitol Board Room
Utah State Capitol
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Category Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP), Housing and Community Development |
31 Jan, 2012 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
WHO: Governor Gary Herbert
Pamela Atkinson
Kathy Bray, Volunteers of America
Client of Volunteers of America
WHAT: To promote donations to the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund through the State Individual Income Tax Form. Speakers will highlight how the fund benefits homeless individuals and families throughout the state, including the Homeless Youth population served by Volunteers of America.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 1, 2012
2:00 p.m.
WHERE: Volunteers of America
Homeless Youth Resource Center
655 S. State St.
Salt Lake City, UT
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Category Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP), Housing and Community Development |
23 Jan, 2012 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
SALT LAKE CITY–Public, private and non-profit homeless service providers will conduct an annual Point-In-Time Count of the homeless population in Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012.
“It is absolutely essential that we accurately characterize homelessness in Utah,” said Gordon Walker, director, Division of Housing and Community Development. “Gathering specific information on the number of families, veterans, and those suffering from domestic violence, mental illness, substance abuse, and other disabilities will allow us to address our homeless situation in the most effective and direct way.”
Every year the State of Utah participates in a physical count of all homeless individuals across the state to determine how many were homeless on a single night, or Point-In-Time Count. This year that count will take place on Wednesday, January 25. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that states complete a physical count of both sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons periodically. Utah has elected to conduct both counts every year.
Last year 3,114 homeless individuals were counted across Utah. From this it was projected that 14,351 people experienced homelessness in Utah throughout 2011.
Information from the Point-In-Time Count is used to determine the need and gaps in services across the state. Federal and state monies are allocated to different areas of the state based on the information gathered in this count. An accurate count will ensure the appropriate resources come to our community.
The Point-In-Time Count requires tremendous coordination. Its success is dependent on the collaboration and aid of several organizations such as Local Homeless Coordinating Committees, state agencies including the Utah Department of Veteran’s Affairs, police and sheriffs departments, religious leaders, hospitals and clinics, providers of homeless and domestic violence services and many volunteers.
The State of Utah Community Services office is managed by the Division of Housing and Community Development under the Utah Department of Community and Culture.
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For more information and for ride-a-long inquiries in the Salt Lake County area media are encouraged to contact:
Rob Wesemann,
LPD Division Director,
Homeless Services,
Volunteers of America, Utah,
801-834-8271.
For information regarding other counties, please contact the appropriate LHCC lead listed on the following website: housing.utah.gov/scso
Category Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP), Housing and Community Development |
13 Jan, 2012 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
For Immediate Release
January 13th 2012
Contact: LaDawn Stoddard, Acting Executive Director
Utah Commission on Volunteers
(801) 538-8646, (801) 815-3251 cell
Utah Residents Mark the Beginning of a Year of Service on MLK Day
Volunteers across the state serve as part of a National Day of Service
[Salt Lake City] – The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 16, marks the beginning of the 2012 year of service as millions of Americans honor the memory of Dr. King by contributing their time, talent, voice and money to improve their communities.
The Utah Commission on Volunteers and the Corporation for National and Community Service are encouraging local residents to join the hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country in making the holiday “a day on, not a day off”, by serving others.
“Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. committed his life to service and to ensuring that all people are treated with respect and fairness,” said LaDawn Stoddard, Acting Executive Director of the Utah Commission on Volunteers. “By serving today and throughout the year, we honor Dr. King and help realize his dream of equality and opportunity for all.”
The Utah Commission on Volunteers is working with seven volunteer connector organizations this January to provide opportunities for Utah residents to serve on this year’s MLK Day.
MLK Day Activities will be held between Jan 14th and Jan 24th
The Cache Valley Volunteer Center and the Utah State University PALs mentoring program will be hosting an “I Have a Dream” reception for at-risk youth in local mentoring programs and students at in the Logan School District will be invited to submit their “I Have a Dream” service project idea based on something they would like to see improved at their school.
Volunteers for the Thayne Learning and Service Center at Salt Lake Community College will participate in one of several projects that will include sorting through food donations, assembling food boxes distributed to low-income seniors in the Salt Lake Valley and mobile food boxes distributed to rural parts of the state of Utah. The projects will take place January 16, 2012, 9:00am- 12:00pm.
United Way of Northern Utah will partner with Ogden City schools to sponsor an essay contest for 5th graders to complement the core requirement for a five paragraph essay on a US History subject. The topic will highlight a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.. Winners will be published in a publication of Martin Luther King quotes.
The United Way of Salt Lake is partnering with several organizations including the Maliheh Free Clinic, where staff and volunteers will conduct volunteer awareness and recruiting events at various locations. Playworks Salt Lake City will hold a Community Night for training students and families on games they can play with kids for basic conflict resolution strategies.
The Friends of Washington County Volunteer Center, through their Upward Bound program, will host a carnival for veterans and their families, including games, food and a short service by some veterans. The Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) of Washington and Iron Counties will be collecting the food from the stations and packaging it to the appropriate food pantries.
Weber State University Community Involvement Center (CIC) will partner with National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in hosting a community breakfast and a Freedom Walk. CIC will also partner with St. Anne’s Homeless Shelter, Anything for a Friend, LINUS Project and Habitat for Humanity for various projects throughout the week.
The United Way of Utah County will be hosted a Community Outreach Day on January 16th. Volunteers will come to the BYU Wilkinson Center and sign up for a project between 8:30-9:30 AM, with a devotional from 9:30-10:00 AM and projects lasting until about 12 noon. There will be nearly 30 service projects that people can choose to participate in during the event.
To learn more about and participate in these MLK Day activities please visit volunteers.utah.gov.
The Corporation for National and Community Service, in partnership with State Service Commissions, sponsors annual MLK Day of Service projects, through local nonprofits. Projects are taking place in all fifty states and include delivering meals, refurbishing schools and community centers, collecting food and clothing, signing up mentors, reading to children, promoting nonviolence, and more.
The mission of the Utah Commission on Volunteers, an Office of the Lieutenant Governor, is to improve communities through service and volunteerism. For more information visit our website www.volunteers.utah.gov
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Category Commission on Volunteers, Housing and Community Development |
28 Nov, 2011 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
SALT LAKE CITY – U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator Rick Garcia will visit Salt Lake City tomorrow, November 29 at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the impact of HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) and Project Rebuild at the La Porte Group’s newest development, the Plaza at State Street. This development will provide supportive housing, affordable rental apartment homes and economic development opportunities in the heart of Salt Lake City.
At the construction site, Mr. Ben Logue, developer of the project will discuss the value of NSP funding to the project and the La Porte Group’s plans to help rebuild and revitalize Salt Lake City’s downtown. Regional Administrator Rick Garcia will focus on how partnerships are creating jobs at the worksite’s 180 units of affordable mixed-use housing and retail space.
WHO:
Rick Garcia, HUD Regional Administrator
Gordon Walker, Director of Housing and Community Development, Utah Dept. of Community and Culture
Ben Logue, President, The La Porte Group
Grant Whitaker, Utah Housing Corporation
Luke Garrott, Salt Lake City Councilman, District 4 and RDA Chair
WHAT:
HUD Regional Administrator Rick Garcia will visit the construction site and discuss Project Rebuild and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
WHEN:
Tuesday November 29, 2011 at 10:30 a.m.
WHERE:
State Street Plaza, 251 South State Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
AFTER EVENT:
• Speakers will be available for interviews following the press event.
• Media is invited to also tour the Cragun Estates development built with Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding at 2505 South 3463 West, West Valley City, UT. Cragun Estates tour to begin at 1:00 p.m.
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Category Housing and Community Development |
07 Nov, 2011 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
MOAB, Utah – The Utah Permanent Community Impact Board (CIB) suspended the rules of their regularly scheduled project review meeting to vote on and approve a funding request of nearly $1.7 million for the Bluff Water Works Special Service District on November 4.
The Bluff Water Works Special Service District requested a grant totaling $1,698,000 to mediate arsenic contamination levels discovered by the Utah Division of Drinking Water.
Two of the water system’s required water wells have arsenic levels above the maximum level allowed by the U.S. EPA. The special service district plans to install an arsenic treatment facility and blending tank to bring the system into compliance with EPA regulations. The water system serves 199 culinary water residential and commercial connections. In addition, the culinary system will add new water mains/loops and fire hydrants to increase limited fire flows to meet state fire flow requirements.
“Through the process of preparing the culinary water needs plan, Bluff Water Works Special Service District administration realizes these issues represent a health and safety concern for their residents,” said San Juan County Commissioner Bruce Adams who represents the Southeastern Utah Association of Governments on the Community Impact Board. “Getting immediate funding to the district will help mitigate the issues immediately.”
The Community Impact Board awards grants and low-interest loans to cities, towns and counties impacted by mining and the extraction of oil and gas on federal land. Projects funded by the CIB benefit rural Utah by creating safer, more livable communities.
The program is managed by the Division of Housing and Community Development under the Utah Department of Community and Culture.
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Category Community Impact Board, Housing and Community Development |
24 Oct, 2011 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
SALT LAKE CITY- Home Energy Assistance Target (H.E.A.T.) applications will be accepted beginning November 1, 2011 and continue through the end of September, 2012 or until funds are exhausted, the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development announced today.
H.E.A.T. helps eligible families pay for home heating, cooling, and other energy costs, as well as helping to weatherize eligible families’ homes.
“During these tight economic times communities throughout Utah have seen increased demand on key services, such as energy assistance for low-income families. The recent cold snap puts even more pressure on families as they weigh the need to turn on their furnaces,” said Utah Division of Housing and Community Development director Gordon Walker. “The energy subsidies we are releasing this season will help more families afford heat and avert difficult choices too many Utahns face between paying for heat and paying for other essentials like food and medicine.”
To qualify, a family must earn below 150 percent of the federal poverty level: about $33,000 for a family of four. Priority for H.E.A.T. assistance is given to households with the highest energy burden in relationship to household income while taking into consideration vulnerable populations such as the elderly, disabled and families with young children.
Utahns are encouraged to visit our website at http://housing.utah.gov/seal/offices.html to find their county’s contact information, or to dial 2-1-1.
The H.E.A.T. program is administered by the State Energy Assistance and Lifeline office through a statewide network of local community-based organizations. Last year, the funding enabled the H.E.A.T. program to assist more than 50,000 low-income Utah households with their utility bills.
The H.E.A.T. program is Utah’s version of the federal LIHEAP program (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program LIHEAP). It is funded 100% by the Federal Government through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Utah’s State Energy Assistance and Lifeline Office is managed by the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development under the Utah Department of Community and Culture.
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Category Home Energy Assistance Target Program, Housing and Community Development |
18 Oct, 2011 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
- The YWCA will present Lloyd Pendleton, Director, Homeless Task Force, Utah Department of Community and Culture, (left) with the 2011 YWCA Public Official of the Year Award at an appreciation breakfast on Wednesday, October 19, 2011.
Salt Lake City, UT – The YWCA will present Lloyd Pendleton, Director, Homeless Task Force, Utah Department of Community and Culture, with the 2011 YWCA Public Official of the Year Award at an
appreciation breakfast on Wednesday, October 19, 2011. This is the 13th year the YWCA has recognized an outstanding public official in conjunction with its annual Week Without Violence campaign.
Week Without Violence is a public awareness campaign with a series of events designed to educate, to encourage thoughtful conversation, to renew the search for solutions to the problems of violence in families and communities here and around the world—and to strengthen our sense of personal and shared responsibility for keeping one another safe from harm.
“To create positive social change we need principled, compassionate public officials who are unafraid to work on some of the hardest issues facing Utah families today. Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness in our state. On an average night last winter, there were 3,114 homeless persons in Utah. Seventeen percent had been forced from their homes because of family violence. Lloyd Pendleton has been an outstanding leader in reducing homelessness in Utah, and we honor him for his humanitarianism and his commitment to improving the lives of women and their families,” explains YWCA Chief Executive Officer Anne Burkholder.
The Public Official of the Year Award will be presented at the YWCA Salt Lake City, 322 East 300 South,
Salt Lake City, on Wednesday, October 19th at 7:30 a.m.
Past Public Officials Recognized by the YWCA
1998 – Representative Gary Cox
1999 – Senator Afton Bradshaw
2000 – City Councilman Keith Christensen
2001 – Senator Mike Dmitrich
2002 – Senator Paula Julander
2003 – Representative Jackie Biskupski
2004 – Governor Olene Walker
2005 – Chief Justice Christine Durham
2006 – Richard Anderson, DCFS
2007 – City Councilman Eric Jergensen
2008 – Salt Lake City Prosecutor Sim Gill
2009 – Representative Lorie D. Fowlke
2010 – Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank
The YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice,
freedom, and dignity for all. For more than 100 years the YWCA has reached out to women and their
families with friendship, life-changing programs, and opportunities to learn, lead, and influence the
world around them. The YWCA’s enduring belief is that better lives for women – all women – will lead to
stronger families and communities.
Since opening the first domestic violence shelter in Utah in 1976, the YWCA has developed an integrated range of programs focused on the problem of family violence. Today the YWCA is Utah’s
oldest, largest, and most comprehensive provider of shelter, transitional housing, supportive services, and education for women and children who have experienced abuse and violence at home.
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Category Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Re-Housing (HPRP), Housing and Community Development |
07 Oct, 2011 | Author: shadwest | Comments Off
SALT LAKE CITY—Some of the nation’s leading management and motivational speakers will offer insight and realistic tools to help Certified Public Managers from across the United States gain insight into breaking issues, exposure to novel concepts and models, practical techniques and tackle real-life challenges during The American Academy of Certified Public Managers® 23rd Annual Professional Development Conference in Salt Lake City October 10-12.
The Utah Division of Housing and Community Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Native American revitalization programs and Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) manager Keith Heaton indicated this year’s conference is an affordable learning opportunity for Utah’s own Certified Public Managers. Heaton will become the Academy’s President in 2012.
“The demand for the highest quality public managers continues to grow and this three- day conference is the perfect venue for those managers looking for a platform for the mutually beneficial exchange of ideas and solutions,” said Keith Keaton, 2011 American Academy of Certified Public Managers® President-elect.
The theme of this year’s conference “Leadership Elevated” celebrates the leader’s role in a relentless quest for advancing the whole self, the work team, and the organization, undaunted by the unprecedented turbulence of our day. The Academy is pleased to bring to this year’s conference the following speakers:
• Todd Huston, Peak Performance: Leadership at the Summit and Beyond
• Ken Miller, Extreme Government Makeover: Increasing our capacity to do more good
• Doug Nielsen, Leadership Elevated: Proven Strategies to Engage, Ignite, and Launch New Performance Highs
• Ron McMillan, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything
All sessions will be held at the Sheraton Salt Lake City Hotel, 150 West, 500 South, Salt Lake City. For information on the complete visit: http://www.uscpm.org/CPM-2011-National-Conference.html
The American Academy of Certified Public Managers® is a professional association of public sector managers. The Academy is rapidly expanding its role as a nationwide force for professionalism in public sector management.
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Category Housing and Community Development |