ALBANY, N.Y. – January 12, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Paul Tonko today announces the Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) release of funding for the Family Self Sufficiency Program. These funds are only awarded to public housing authorities (PHA) to hire a program coordinator who will enable local residents to gain more access to training opportunities for jobs, job placement organizations as well as local employers.
“These investments will enable those who are unemployed, and many of whom have been for a long period, the opportunity to retrain and retool their skills to ensure they can get back to work and help get the economy moving again,” said Rep. Tonko. “These local hires will help locally unemployed people find work and put their skills back to work. We must continue to focus on rebuilding our economy, which is my top priority. Creating sound jobs on the road to recovery takes investments such as this to help bring down the unemployment rate and retrain the workforce of the future.”
The program coordinators enter into a contract with residents of the PHA which outlines the resident’s responsibilities towards completion of training and employment objectives over a five year period or less. The PHA must establish an interim goal with welfare families that they become independent from welfare and remain so at least one year prior to the expiration of the contract. During participation in the contract, residents may earn an escrow credit, based on increased income, which they may use in a variety of ways after completing the program.
| Local Recipient | Amount |
| Cohoes Housing Authority | $15,116.00 |
| Municipal Housing Authority of the City of Schenectady | $55,533.00 |
| Troy Housing Authority | $60,190.00 |
| Total | $130,839.00 |
