LAWRENCE COUNTY County homeless programs to begin

Both programs are designed to help homeless people address problems that keep them from a stable home.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Federal funding will help pay for two new Lawrence County programs designed to get homeless people off the streets.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $1.7 million -- the largest amount to any county in northwestern Pennsylvania -- to two new programs.
The bulk of the money, $446,880, is going to the New Castle Human Services Center, which is refurbishing five homes on Grant Street. They will provide psychiatric care, counseling and other support services for mentally ill homeless people. Two of the homes will be designated as living space for those without a place to live.
Housing: One house will be a traditional rooming house, but the other will be a cooperative apartment complex that will give residents some ownership. Residents will decide who provides services such as landscaping and utilities, HSC officials have said.
Some money from each month's rent will go into an account for the person to help pay for more stable housing in the future, according to HSC officials. The second program being funded by HUD will help homeless families with children.
Deborah Hennon, director of supportive housing programs for Lawrence County Social Services, said about 20 agencies in the county are participating in the program that will offer support to five families each year. The $229,950 grant will pay for housing and make all county agencies available to help with any barriers that contribute to a family's homelessness, she said.
"It could be domestic violence, drug abuse or plain lack of employment. We've brought all of the agencies [in the county] together and they have agreed to provide services," Hennon said.
Anyone in the program, called Temporary Extension Aid for Households with Minors, will pay nothing or a minimal amount for their apartment or rented house and then eventually work up to paying the full rent amount over the course of a year, she explained.
"The goal is to get kids in the school district they need to get into and let them have a minimum of one year stability so the parents can concentrate on the things that are causing homelessness," she said.
Both programs should be off the ground sometime in the spring.