Housing Authority gets $462K grant
By Matt Caulder
Published in News on October 17, 2013 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
The Goldsboro Housing Authority office on North Jefferson Avenue is show. The Housing Authority will use a $462,000 federal urban housing grant.
The Goldsboro Housing Authority is hitting the ground running following the news that it has been chosen to receive $462,000 in grant funding to develop its programs in Goldsboro Section 8 housing areas.
The grant is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency grant funds a ROSS service coordinator and assistant coordinator for three years as well as provides money for the coordinators to implement programs to help Goldsboro residents improve their financial situation.
The types of programs that will be offered or expanded under the grant include expanded GED certificate programs, job training and technology programs and also financial literacy programs, Housing Authority CEO Anthony Goodson said.
"This will help people pursue upward mobility. We are hiring these folks who will create employment," he said.
The programs that the ROSS grant funds are designed to benefit low-income residents, Goodson said.
"That may mean a better job or a higher salary or moving out of public housing," he said. "I know there aren't 1,000 units available around town, so not everyone can move out, but if we can get them off of welfare then we can get someone else on who needs it, too."
Goodson said that at a time when federally funded programs are being cut that to get a piece of the total $28 million available nationwide is a big boon to the area.
Durham and Lenoir were also chosen for funding in North Carolina.
"The coordinator role is to build partnerships, increase earned income and reduce economic dependence," Goodson said.
The coordinator position is currently being advertised and once that position is filled the new coordinator will assist in the hiring of the assistant coordinator.
Both positions have to be filled within 60 days of the awarding of the grant to maintain the funding, which came in at the end of September.
While the program is only funded for three years, the housing authority can apply for the funding again at the end of the three years.