Mayor Tim Kelly, who recently was among mayors meeting with President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., said new federal funds will help provide shelter for many homeless people.
He said, "We know we can solve homelessness through a Housing First approach. That's why Chattanooga has joined @HUDgov's #HouseAmerica with a commitment to re-house 240 households from homelessness and add 100 housing units to our development pipeline to serve people exiting homelessness."
The mayor issued this proclamation:
PROCLAMATION TO JOIN HOUSE AMERICA
To all to whom these presents shall come:
Whereas:
The City of Chattanooga –along with The Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, The Chattanooga Interagency Council on Homelessness, The Chattanooga Housing Authority, The Community Kitchen, Volunteer Behavioral Health, the AIM Center, Chattanooga Room In the Inn, and Welcome Home Chattanooga– are united in commitment and common purpose of ensuring all Chattanoogans have access to a safe and affordable place to live; and
Whereas:
Homelessness impacts over 600 Chattanooga residents, and a lack of housing remains a barrier to the health, safety, wellbeing, employment, and education for these individuals and families; and
Whereas:
More than 580,000 people on a given night were experiencing homelessness in America when the COVID-19 pandemic began and these individuals have endured this public-health emergency without the safety and protection of a stable home, while the homelessness crisis has also been further exacerbated during and due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
Whereas:
The most effective approach to solving homelessness is a Housing First approach, which entails identifying and assisting households experiencing homelessness to obtain permanent housing, and quickly—without treatment or sobriety pre-conditions and with few to no barriers—through housing counseling and navigation assistance, tailored levels of rental assistance, and/or wraparound supportive services as needed; and
Whereas:
The American Rescue Plan provides communities with significant new resources to address homelessness, including 70,000 emergency housing vouchers and $5 billion in grants through the HOME Investment Partnerships program; and $350 billion in State and Local Recovery Funds through the Department of the Treasury; and
Whereas:
Launched in October 2021, House America is a partnership between the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), states, and local communities to respond with urgency to confront the crisis of homelessness; and
Whereas:
Through House America, HUD Secretary Marcia L.
Fudge calls on state and local leaders to set and achieve ambitious goals for re-housing households currently experiencing homelessness, and developing new supportive and affordable housing units; and
Whereas:
The One Chattanooga strategic plan and visioning document includes a focus on ensuring every Chattanoogan has access to a safe, affordable, and stable home, as well as a commitment to expanding supportive housing resources to put an end to chronic homelessness in our community; and
Whereas:
The City of Chattanooga is committed to working with HUD and USICH to use American Rescue Plan resources along with other federal, state, and local resources to make meaningful progress towards putting an end to homelessness in our community; and
Whereas:
The City of Chattanooga, along with the mentioned partners, is committed to rehousing 240 households and creating 100 new housing units for people experiencing homelessness;
Now, Therefore:
I, Tim Kelly of Chattanooga, do hereby announce and proclaim to all citizens that, as of December 15th, 2021, the City of Chattanooga proudly joins House America and pledges to respond with urgency to homelessness in our community by setting and achieving ambitious re-housing and housing creation goals.