PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — More than $300,000 has been awarded to the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority to help children who are in foster care, officials say.
PRHA will receive $303,389 from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s “Family Unification Program.” The money will be used to create 36 housing vouchers. These will be given to families whose children are in foster care because they can’t afford housing. Vouchers can also be given to young adults, aged 18 to 24, who were in foster care but have aged out of the system and are at risk for homelessness, according to a news release.
The housing vouchers allow families to pay 30% of their income to private landlords for rent and utilities, the release states.
The program will award more than $24.4 million in grant money to housing authorities across the United States to create 1,900 housing vouchers. These vouchers will all go toward helping families and former foster children obtain affordable housing, according to the release.
“HUD is committed to helping parents and caregivers obtain safe and affordable housing for their families,” U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Joseph J. DeFelice wrote in a news release. “This investment will allow thousands of children to leave the foster care system and live with their families, so they have the opportunity to thrive together.”