
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 25, 1991                   TAG: 9103250333
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CITY GETS GRANT FOR HOMELESS

Roanoke has received a $41,000 federal grant to help pay for the operation of shelters for homeless people in the next fiscal year.

This is the largest amount awarded to the city by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development since the program was established five years ago. The city's prior grants ranged from $4,000 to $39,000.

City Manager Robert Herbert said officials will accept applications for the money from agencies that operate shelters.

A task force on homelessness will review the applications and recommend the agencies to be funded. In the past, the money has been given to Total Action Against Poverty, which operates a transitional living center; Roanoke Area Ministries, which operates a day shelter;and the Roanoke Valley Trouble Center (TRUST), which provides emergency shelter.

Surveys have shown that the number of people staying overnight in shelters in Roanoke has increased in recent years, but officials said there have been enough beds for them because non-profit agencies have more than doubled their bed space.

A city report four years ago estimated there were 177 homeless people in Roanoke, but the Rev. David Hayden, an advocate of more aid for the homeless, estimated between 1,500 and 2,000.

Since the 1987 report, the Salvation Army and TRUST have added beds. The City Rescue Mission has expanded and TAP has opened its transitional living center.Roanoke Area Ministries had opened a day shelter serving hot meals.

National studies have shown that the problem is getting worse, not better, despite federal and state aid programs.

by CNB