HUD awards HANO $2.3M Jobs Plus grant

By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer

The Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) secured a $2.3 million Jobs Plus grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help families living in public housing obtain employment and make other quality-of-life improvements.

Local officials were delighted to hear the news.

“This grant can support the efforts of up to 264 adult residents who are unemployed or under-employed living in two of our largest public housing communities,” said HANO Executive Director Gregg Fortner.

According to HANO’s statistics, there are 214 non-elderly public households in the Bienville Basin and Faubourg Lafitte. 56.7 percent of these households have no employed individuals in the home.

The Jobs Plus Initiative Program was developed to create locally-based, job-driven approaches to increase income and improve employment for public housing residents through a multi- pronged approach. The goal is to build a culture of work in these neighborhoods and make working families the norm in them.

Fortner said that the funding will be leveraged through established partnerships with the United Way, Providence Community Housing, HRI Management/Lodging, Southeast Legal Services, Operation Spark, Backatown Coffee Shop, Youth Empowerment Project, Fidelity Bank, STRIVE NOLA and Crescent Affordable Housing to strengthen community support services that encourage job readiness and career growth.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell issued her congratulations to HANO and also expressed excitement over the grant.

“My administration embraces HANO as a top priority. I have strengthened the board leadership and charged executive management with a renewed commitment to attacking the affordable housing crisis from every angle, including jobs,” said Cantrell in a press release. “In my meetings with HUD, they have indicated that HANO has turned a corner for the better after decades of chronic dysfunction and mismanagement. The agency has now emerged as a national model…That was HUD talking the talk – this grant award is HUD walking the walk, and showing proof of their confidence in HANO with $2.3 million that will help connect our people with new job opportunities. It’s a clear indication of the progress made and the momentum we intend to build on.”

Scott Hudman, a public affairs specialist with HUD, said HANO and its partners impressed HUD with their application.

“HANO and its partners competed nationally for the Jobs Plus award of $2.3 million, which was based off their strong application,” said Hudman. “Along with the award, they were also able to leverage an additional $2.7 million from other sources, thus strengthening their application, their program, and the resources for participants they can bring to bear.”

Hudman said HANO’s partnerships provide a wide variety of services to participants including counseling, case management, broad training opportunities and more. They will also work with residents on both job placement and job retention to ensure long-term success.

This article originally published in the July 30, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.