The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on Thursday it is sending almost $5 million to Palm Beach County to help end youth homelessness in South Florida.
HUD is sending $4,932,359 to Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, part of $75 million being sent around the nation through its Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP).
“Homelessness is no way to start out in life for young people reaching adulthood,” said U.S. HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “Today we make another critical investment in the futures of our youth, sparing them a life on the streets or in our shelters and placing them on a path to self-sufficiency.”
“The solutions to youth homelessness that are being built and tested through HUD’s YHDP program represent community collaboration at its best,” said Matthew Doherty, the executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “We are confident that these communities, and their Youth Action Boards, will help lead us along the path to end youth homelessness in our country.”
“This innovative approach will support crucial community coordinated response systems to change the trajectory of our vulnerable young adults,” said HUD Southeast Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett. “This funding for stable housing and support services will help break the cycle of homelessness.”
The Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County noted more than 4,400 students were identified as homeless within the Palm Beach County School District back in May. The county ranks second in the state when it comes to children living in spaces not designed for human habitation including being homeless.
Following his celebrated medical career, including a long tenure at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Carson moved to Palm Beach County. Carson ran for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 election cycle and, afterward, joined President Donald Trump’s administration to lead HUD.
