(Washington, DC) – John E. Hall, Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), will hold two public hearings on Monday, July 2, 2012 and Monday, July 9, 2012 to discuss a Substantial Amendment to the Emergency Solutions Grant for Federal Fiscal Year 2011. 

As part of the amendment, the District must determine, with community input, how it will spend the second allocation in funding for Federal Fiscal Year 2011 in the amount of $447,499. 

The Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program, authorized by subtitle B of title IV of the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 11371–11378), authorizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to States, units of general purpose local government, and territories for the rehabilitation or conversion of buildings for use as emergency shelter for the homeless, for the payment of certain expenses related to operating emergency shelters, for essential services related to emergency shelters and street outreach for the homeless, and for homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing assistance.

Residents and stakeholders are strongly encouraged to comment on the Substantial Amendment for the Emergency Solutions Grants program within the 30 day comment period – starting June 15 through July 16, 2012.  District residents are able to access the Substantial Amendment for the ESG program via the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) website at dhcd.dc.gov, and hard copies will be available at the following locations:

SCHEDULED PUBLIC HEARINGS:

Monday, July 2, 2012 ~ 1:00 pm
1800 Martin Luther King Jr, Avenue, SE, 1st Floor Conference Room

Monday, July 9, 2012 ~ 6:30 pm
Frank D. Reeves Municipal Building, 2000 14th Street, NW, 2nd Floor Community Room

District of Columbia residents who would like to present oral testimony are encouraged to register in advance either by e-mail at [email protected] or by calling 202-442-7251.  Please provide your name, address, telephone number, and organization affiliation, if any. 

Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) relay service is available by calling (800) 201-7165.  A sign language interpreter will be provided upon request by calling (202) 442-7251 five days prior to the hearing date.

Residents who require language interpretation should specify which language (Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese-Mandarin/Cantonese, Amharic, or French). Interpretation services will be provided to pre-registered persons only. Deadline for requesting services of an interpreter is five days prior to the hearing date.  Bilingual staff will provide services on an availability basis to walk-ins without registration.

Written statements may be submitted for the record at the hearing, or until close of business, Monday, July 16, 2012.  Mail written statements to: John E. Hall, Director, DHCD, 1800 Martin Luther King Jr., Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20020.