Fort Wayne giving $1.7M in CARES Act money to help vulnerable populations

Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry announced on Tuesday that as part of the recent CARES Act, the City will receive about $1.7 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.

Having us in your home tonight..the city of fort wayne recently received one point seven million dollars in federal funds from the cares act.part of that money will go towards helping vulnerable populations thro ghout the area.

Fox 55 caleb saylor is live in downtown fort wayne to explain more about how the money will be used.discussions between local non-profits began in march on how to help those who are homeless during the pandemic, now these groups will be able to do more thanks to the money from the city?

Very early on, non-profit groups like the united way of allen county, brightpoint, blue jacket, and just neighbors interfaith identified those who are homeless or homing-unstable as a group who could be hit hardest by the impacts of the pandemic.

Sixty thousand dollars is going to just neighbors interfaith to help with temporary housing for homeless women another sixty thousand will be offered to brightpoint.

President steve hoffman says a majority of the calls they e received so far are to help those who live in hotels, covered by the statewide eviction and uite losure moratorium frankly a lot of programs, state funding and so forth, kind of neglects and the statewide moratorium neglects as well.

The people who are living in hotels right now are to help keep facilities clean for the homeless, fifty thousand will go towards blue jacket to help hire cleaning deeping cleaning services for shelters.

The largest chunk of money in phase one is going to help the united way.

They, along with other organizations, help set up a quarantine shelter for the homeless.

The two hundred thousand theyl be getting will all go towards providing the homeless with medical att ention with dignity.

T the quarantine center here locally, an individual gets their own room, they get internet access, television.

They also get all hygiene items, three meals a day, security.

Opens back up, hoffman believes the impacts of the quarantine will continue to be felt, which will require continued support.

S long as funders, donors, whatever, have a desire to respond to the covid crisis, wel be there to get it to the people plans for using the rest of the one point seven million is unknown at this time, but a city representative says theyl continue working with community programs to figure out how to best use those dollars.reporting live in fort wayne, caleb saylor, fox 55 news.

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