From the Metro Desk of Cleveland Urban News.Com, and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper and newspaper blog. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com

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Warrensville Heights, Ohio – Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge (OH-11), (pictured), a Warrensville Heights Democrat whose largely Black 11th congressional district includes the city of Cleveland,  announced on Thursday, April 2, that, per her support, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded a $3 million grant to the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) to implement a Jobs-Plus Pilot Program.

Cuyahoga County is the largest of 88 counties of Ohio and includes Cleveland, a major metropolitan city.

CMHA is an arm of HUD, a federally funded public entity that owns and manages property, and administers subsidy programs to low-income people.

“Empowering families to be self-sufficient is at the core of the Jobs-Plus Pilot Program and I’m excited residents of Cleveland will have an opportunity to build a better future through strategically placed resources that will help them find and keep jobs,” Congresswoman Fudge said in a press release to Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's leader in Black digital news.

Research based on a 5 -year demonstration project has shown that when properly implemented, the Jobs-Plus Program produced substantial increases in residents’ earnings.

Higher pay levels were sustained even when residents, a disproportionate number of whom are Black, left public housing and were no longer in the program.

The program also increased employ-ability skills, successfully bringing some unemployed residents into the workforce, said Fudge.

The Jobs-Plus grant will enable CMHA to partner with community resources and provide on-site job training and placement services as well as rent incentives to residents living in specific City of Cleveland sites. CMHA is one of nine public housing authorities selected by HUD to participate in the four-year program that invests a total of $24 million in a comprehensive initiative designed to bring better paying jobs to residents of public housing.

Fudge is a fighter on Capital Hill on issues for the poor, and other disenfranchised groups, including minorities, women, and senior citizens, and is one of two Black congresspersons from Ohio, the other of which is Joyce Beatty, a Columbus Democrat.

“I support the Jobs-Plus Program because it builds on a model proven to provide residents of public housing with the tools they need to attain and maintain employment," said Fudge.  "Congratulations to CMHA and its community partners for securing the grant and  I look forward to full and robust implementation of this promising program.”

For more information on the HUD Jobs-Plus Pilot Program, please contact Gina.Rodriquez@hud.gov

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