SHOW ME THE $$

John E. Hall (202) 275-6291 http://www.hud.gov/news/

For Release Friday March 06, 2009

N E W S    R E L E A S E :

HUD AWARDS $21,750 TO THE ROCKVILLE HOUSING ENTERPRISES TO BRING JOBS, ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE TO PUBLIC HOUSING RESIDENTS IN ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND

'WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $21,750 to the Rockville Housing Enterprises that will be used to help public housing residents in Rockville, to find jobs that lead them toward economic independence. This funding was part of nearly $12 million awarded to 207 public housing agencies across the U.S.
The grants are provided through HUD's Public Housing Family Self-Sufficiency Program, which enables public housing agencies (PHA) to hire program coordinators who work directly with residents to connect them with local education and training opportunities; job placement organizations and local employers. The purpose of the program is to encourage local innovative strategies that link public housing assistance with public and private resources to enable participating families to increase earned income; reduce or eliminate the need for welfare assistance; and make progress toward achieving economic independence and housing self-sufficiency.
"As America prepares to meet the growing challenges brought on by rising unemployment, it helps to have a helping hand guide individuals to training and job opportunities in their community," said HUD Deputy Regional Director Brenda Laroche. "These grants will help public housing residents find employment or assist others who want to increase their earning power."
Public housing residents sign a contract to participate, which outlines their responsibilities towards completion of training and employment objectives up to a five-year period. For each participating family that is a welfare recipient, the PHA must establish an interim goal that the participating family be independent from welfare assistance prior to the expiration of the contract. During the period of participation, residents may earn an escrow credit based on increased earned income, which they may use in a variety of ways, including continuing their education or down payment toward a home purchase. A HUD study showed low-income families who participated in a similar HUD family self-sufficiency program saw their incomes increase at a higher rate than non-participants....'
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Show me the $$$, cuz I was enrolled in this program during the time-frame that RHE received this grant, and I don't know what they did with the money, but I can say with a certainty that it was absolutely NOT used for it's intended purpose.  Maybe they went out and had a big lobster dinner with it.  Maybe they rented a cruise ship and took a vacation with it.... Who knows?!  But, all I can tell you for sure is that - as a participant of this program - when it came time for me to cash-in on my FSS contract - all of a sudden - the money had mysteriously vanished.  Ruth O'Sullivan, Executive Director of RHE gave me this big song and dance about this and that... Tried to bamboozle me with fake documents, then gave me a dummy escrow account ledger.  Except, I ain't no dummy.  To this day, I'm in Public Housing against my will because they 'misappropriated' resident money, and botched accounts.  So, instead of being the homeowner I'm supposed to be, I gotta live on swampland, next to a toxic moat, across the street from a landfill, on a dead-end street, going nowhere fast..... Thanks, Ruth.