The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has announced that Reading Housing Authority (RHA) has been awarded a Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) Service Coordinator grant totaling $230,621 for a three-year grant term. The funds will be used in the RHA Resident Services Department to hire a Service Coordinator to assess the needs of residents and link them to training and resources so that they may move towards greater self-sufficiency. Through funding from the ROSS grant, the RHA Service Coordinator will perform case management and coaching with program participants, community engagement with RHA Resident Councils and agency partners, and address areas of need at both the community and individual level. According to Jack Knockstead, RHA Resident Services Manager, recent survey data demonstrates that more than 200 households are interested in help with some form of economic self-sufficiency. “This grant will focus on GED, ESL, college/continuing education, career planning and budgeting – all of which have been identified as highly desirable by our resident population”, said Knockstead.
The Resident Opportunity & Self Sufficiency Service Coordinator program is a competitive grant designed to assist residents with economic and housing selfsufficiency by removing the educational, professional and health barriers they may face.
Reading Housing Authority was established in 1939, opening its doors as the 9th Public Housing Agency in the state of Pennsylvania with the intent to meet the housing needs of residents of the City of Reading who were otherwise unable to afford housing that was decent and safe. Given economic constraints and the intimate relationship between income and housing instability, RHA serves a vital resource to the community in its array of subsidized housing programs. According to Executive Director Stacey J. Keppen, these additional funds will be instrumental in helping to address the wave of unemployment experienced by more than 25% of households in RHA’s “family” public housing program that are directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and further the organization’s overarching commitment to service-enriched housing.
The mission of Reading Housing Authority is to provide the foundation for people to find a home of hope and achieve their aspirations.
