Cuts to the Shelter Dollars Announced

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the allocation for new projects in the United States.  Cleveland/Cuyahoga County asked for $25.59 million, but received only $24.28 million.   Local officials are happy and "grateful" that they only received a 5% cut.  There was a new Permanent Supportive Housing Project and more Shelter Plus Care vouchers.   The million dollars lost would have helped disabled homeless people pay rent to exit the shelters.  Because of sequestration, Cleveland received $1.3 million fewer rental dollars in the community.   We will have to keep people in the shelters for a longer period of time or operate overflow for longer. 

These cuts only mean that some other government has to pick up the costs.  The local community will have to pay for additional shelter beds, food, or emergency services, because of federal cuts.  We save so much money paying for rental assistance compared to the paying for 24 hours of care and the medical costs for a person living in a shelter or living outside.  Because of the across the board spending cuts in Washington, disabled homeless people in Cleveland suffer.

Brian Davis

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