Local housing agency gets grant to hire coordinators

The Vancouver Housing Authority was listed as one of 31 public housing agencies in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington to receive a total of $3.6 million in federal money.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said Thursday in a press release that the money will go toward hiring more than 60 coordinators who will link low-income families to education and job training.

The Northwest agencies were among nearly 600 agencies nationwide to receive approximately $54 million in Housing Choice Voucher Family Self Sufficiency (HCV/FFS) grants.

According to a news release issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the grants “enable public housing agencies to work with welfare agencies, schools, businesses and other local partners to develop a comprehensive program to help individuals already participating in HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance program to increase or gain marketable skills to obtain jobs that pay a living wage.”

Donovan was quoted as saying, “This program is absolutely critical in today’s economy. The research demonstrates that this program works. When families are given the tools they need to move beyond the voucher program, they do.”

The Vancouver Housing Authority was listed as receiving $128,442 to fund two coordinators to link adults in the Housing Choice Voucher program to “local organizations that provide job training, childcare, counseling, transportation and job placement,” according to the news release.