10400 Detrick Avenue

Kensington, Maryland 20895
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             CONTACT: Susan Yancy

Monday, October 13, 2003                                                301-929-6724             

FEDERAL AND COUNTY OFFICIALS TO JOIN HOC IN CELEBRATING A DECADE OF HELPING  FAMILIES ACHIEVE FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE

The FSS Program Will Celebrate its 10^th Anniversary With 36 New Graduates,

FOX 5 Anchor to be Keynote Speaker at October 22 Ceremony

On Wednesday, October 22, 2003, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) will hold the 10^th Anniversary of the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program and annual Graduation Ceremony. This year 36 HOC residents are graduating. The ceremony will be held in the third floor Hearing Room at the County Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, in Rockville. A reception will be held at 6 p.m. 

Allison Seymour, News Anchor and Health Reporter for Fox 5, will be the keynote speaker.  Other speakers will include Phil Andrews, Montgomery County Councilman; LaKeyia L. Thompson, HOC Commissioner; William Russell, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public Housing & Voucher Programs for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Stephanie Avery, Acting Director for the Office of Supportive Services & Grants Programs Division for HUD; and Carolyn Colvin, Director of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.  

Attendees will include Maryland State Delegates Kathleen Dumais, Luis Simmons and Jean Cryor. Representatives for U.S. Senators Paul S. Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski and U.S. Congressman Chris Van Hollen will also be in attendance.

“HOC’s FSS Program is an excellent way to help families move up the economic ladder.  It has been successfully moving families toward financial independence for the last 10 years.  This year’s graduates, like the ones before them, are powerful role models for their children and the next generation,” said HOC Commissioner LaKeyia Thompson.

Commissioner Thompson, an HOC resident, was appointed by County Executive Doug Duncan in December 2002.  Ms. Thompson is a working single mom, employed as a financial coordinator for a local dental practice.

The goal of the FSS Program is to build on the stability that housing subsidies provide and to go beyond welfare reform in order to break the cycle of poverty for future generations.  With assistance from skilled case managers, volunteer mentors and tutors, HOC now has 347 successful graduates of the FSS Program, which began in 1993.  They have stable, living wage employment, often with health coverage for their families.  Graduates earn an average salary of $12.40 per hour, having raised their annual earned income by an average of 66%.  As families’ earnings increase during the program, a portion of the money they are required to pay in higher rent is set aside for them in an escrow account; approximately 25% of graduates have used the escrow savings as the down payment on a home.

FSS is a federally mandated program for 441 Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) and Public Housing HOC families.  It is supported by HUD, Montgomery County, donations and volunteers.  HOC’s FSS, a nationally recognized program, helps low-income families in subsidized housing to achieve financial independence. The program provides employment counseling, job training and assistance in finding living wage jobs, making it possible for them to be economically self-sufficient within 5-7 years.

Of the 2003 FSS graduates, 95% of program participants are single mothers, 17% of whom lacked a high school education.  Additionally, 36% of participants were unemployed and/or receiving welfare assistance, and most lacked job skills when they enrolled. More than 90% of this year’s graduates took some education or training while in FSS.

Individuals who may be interested in being trained as a volunteer mentor/case manager, please call 301/929-5660.  Volunteer tutors or donors of tax-deductible used computers call 301/929-5643.

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