HUD awards $216K to 6 Puerto Rico towns to assist families
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it has awarded some $216,000 in funding through its Renewal Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) Program to public housing complexes in six towns across Puerto Rico.
The funding assignments have been renewed for the towns of Bayamón ($46,270), San Juan ($23,125), San Germán ($62,497), Juana Diaz ($27,148), and Ponce ($15,000). The agency also added the municipality of Trujillo Alto ($42,014) to the program.
In total, the agency assigned more than $109 million to 682 Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) for the 2022 FSS Program and an additional $6 million to 32 PHAs and 38 Project Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) owners for the 2022 New FSS Program for a total of nearly $116 million.
These funds will be used to assist families in increasing their assets and improving their financial stability through the FSS program, the agency noted.
The FSS program is a voluntary program offered to families in HUD-assisted housing who are provided coaching, referred to services and establish a family escrow savings account. FSS Program Coordinators provide the coaching and develop local strategies to connect participating families to public and private resources to increase their earned income and financial empowerment, reduce or eliminate the need for welfare assistance, and make progress toward economic independence and self-sufficiency.
“Childcare, education, job training, and financial literacy are just some of the services to which families are connected under the FSS program,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, “HUD provides the safety net and resources necessary to prepare for the ups and downs of life. This stabilizing program does just that and more by providing supports, connections to services and the opportunity to build a real asset.”
