Salvation Army loses $900K in federal funding for women's program in Norfolk
NORFOLK -- With its federal funding drying up at the end of the month, officials at HOPE Village are turning to donations to fund the program that helps low- and moderate-income women get back on their feet.
The village is a group of seven homes that enable the women to live rent-free while they work and learn to be more self-sufficient. The Salvation Army opened the doors to its Homeless Outreach for Personal Empowerment program in 2009 with $900,000 worth of federal funding to be dispersed over the first three years.
Its approximately $400,000 annual operating budget has since been funded largely through those Housing and Urban Development grants, with donations making up the rest. Now, as the grants dwindle and disappear, the group hopes to find enough donations to fund the entire budget.
The village has served 132 women. Residents originally were allowed to stay up to two years, but the government started to pressure the Salvation Army for quicker turnover, said Mary Mann, social services program manager for the organization’s Hampton Roads Area Command.
Read more: http://pilotonline.com/news/local/salvation-army-loses-k-in-federal-funding-for-women-s/article_d65c47c3-b590-51e8-99ff-1d938352d9d7.html
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