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10400 Detrick Avenue
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Susan
Krimer Yancy Tuesday, November 1, 2005
301-962-5505 47 FAMILY SELF-SUFFICIENCY (FSS) PROGRAM
GRADUATES TO BE HONORED Average Increase in Earnings Among Graduates
of 5-Year Program is 200 Percent; 24 Percent Purchase First Home CEREMONY TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 9, 2005, AT STATE SECRETARY OF HOUSING TO JOIN LOCAL,
FEDERAL OFFICIALS IN HONORING GRADUATES On Wednesday, November 9, from The ceremony will be held in the third
floor Hearing Room at the County Council Office Building, The keynote speaker for the evening is
Betty McLeod, an educator and trainer whose expertise is conflict management
and building self-esteem and leadership skills. Other officials who will
attend and give remarks include: Victor Hoskins, Secretary of Housing and
Community Development for the state of Maryland; representatives from Housing
and Urban Development (HUD); staff members from the offices of : Senators
Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski, Congressman Chris Van Hollen, the County
Executive and the County Council. “HOC’s FSS Program is an excellent way
to help families move up the economic ladder toward financial independence. This
year’s graduates, like the previous graduates over the past 12 years, are
powerful role models for their children and the next generation,” said HOC
Commissioner Norman Cohen. The goal of the five-year FSS Program,
a federally mandated program for 441 Housing Choice Voucher (formerly known
as Section 8) and Public Housing HOC families., is to build upon the
stability that housing subsidies provide and to go beyond welfare reform to
break the cycle of poverty for future generations. -MORE- “Graduates are stable, productive,
tax-paying members of the community with career skills and livable wage jobs;
this is a program that works,” said HOC Executive Director With the assistance of skilled case
managers, volunteer mentors and tutors who provide employment counseling and
job training, HOC now has 427 successful graduates of the FSS Program, which
began in 1993. Graduates earn an average salary of $13 per hour, which is a
200 percent average increase. Twenty-four percent of the graduates have used
FSS escrow savings to purchase their first home. Of the 2005 FSS graduates, 92 percent
are single mothers, 15 percent of whom lacked a high school education.
Forty-nine percent were unemployed and/or receiving welfare assistance, and
most lacked job skills when they enrolled in the program. Eighty-nine percent
of the program’s graduates took some education or training while in FSS and
62 percent obtained a GED, certificate or license from their training. Potential volunteers or donors of
tax-deductible used computers, please call 301-929-5643 for more information.
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