Birmingham Getting $5 Million To Battle Homelessness
Birmingham will receive just more than $5 million to combat homelessness from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s American Rescue Plan Act, it was announced Thursday.
The funding will come through HUD’s Home Investment Partnerships Program and is intended to help cities create affordable and supportive housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. It’s separate from the $148 million Birmingham already has been awarded from the American Rescue Plan.
“With this Home money, we can do things like purchase residences or hotels … to house people and put them in stable, permanent housing,” HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said Thursday during a press conference that also included Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. Between this funding and President Joe Biden’s proposed $2 trillion economic plan, Fudge said she was “very, very confident that we can eradicate homelessness.”
In addition to the construction of new housing, the funds can be used to provide rental assistance; they also will be made available for people fleeing domestic violence, Fudge said.
Birmingham is one of five Alabama cities receiving supplemental allocations from the American Rescue Plan Act. Huntsville will receive $2.7 million; Mobile, $3.08 million; Montgomery, $3.3 million; and Tuscaloosa, $1.7 million. Jefferson County separately will receive $3.6 million in funding, while Mobile County will receive $2.2 million. The state will receive a further $41.6 million to distribute among areas with populations of less than 50,000.
A full list of Home program funding allocations is available on HUD’s website.
India and China to resume direct flights after a 5-year suspension
The suspension, which began with the 2020 Covid outbreak, was prolonged by tensions along the Himalayan border.
On ‘The Life of a Showgirl,’ Taylor Swift feels love’s glow and the spotlight’s glare
On her 12th album, the most dominant pop star of our era makes a spectacle of herself in full flower, in love and holding the music industry in the palm of her hand.
FDA approves another generic abortion pill, prompting outrage from conservatives
Drugmaker Evita Solutions announced on its website that the Food and Drug Administration signed off on its low-cost form of the pill, which is approved to end pregnancies through 10 weeks.
As the shutdown drags on, the threat of permanent cuts is mired in politics
President Trump is meeting with his budget director, Russ Vought, about what additional cuts to make during the shutdown, and the president says his targets are partisan.
Pope Leo’s religious community is drawing renewed interest. Here’s what makes it unique
"Before, we might get two or three discerners. But after Pope Leo, I now have 15. It's unbelievable."
The CDC still hasn’t issued COVID vaccine guidelines, leaving access in limbo
Access to the COVID-19 vaccines remains difficult because of an unusual and unexplained delay by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in accepting recommendations from its advisers.
