Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which included $1.5 billion for a Homelessness Prevention Fund. Funding for this program, called the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP), was distributed based on the formula used for the Emergency Shelter Grants Program.

For additional information on the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), please visit HUD's ARRA page, or www.Recovery.gov.

Switch among the tabs to view other HPRP-related information.

HPRP ended nationwide on September 30, 2012.
Federal HPRP funds are no longer available.

Promising Practices & Success Stories

HPRP marks the first time that such a large amount of federal funds has been available for homelessness prevention at the national level. Since the beginning of the program, communities across the country have worked to prevent and end homelessness for over one million people, including families and individuals (see the HPRP Year 1 Summary). Homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing are key strategies of Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness and are components of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. While HPRP in name will come to an end in 2012, the activities will be eligible under the new Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Program. Learning what has been instrumental to foster success in other communities can be key as communities continue to incorporate prevention and rapid re-housing activities into their continuum. This page contains community and program-level promising practices and individual success stories submitted by HPRP programs across the country.

Submit a Story

HUD encourages communities to submit examples of how they have used HPRP to effect change in their communities and homeless continuum, and to positively impact residents’ lives. To submit your story, please use the Promising Practices and Success Stories Template.

Find a Story

To see stories highlighting community or program-level systems change, successful targeting strategies, or examples of how HPRP has helped communities to decrease their homeless or shelter population, look under Promising Practices. Stories highlighting individual or family HPRP success stories can be found by looking under Individual Success Stories.

Read our most recent stories below, or use the links on the right navigation bar to look for stories by topic. To clear your topic selection criteria, click the Clear Search button below.

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A City and County Combine HPRP Efforts to Better Serve their Community

The City of Saint Paul and Ramsey County used HPRP as an opportunity to work together to provide better homelessness delivery systems by creating a central contact point for their homeless residents and those at-risk of homelessness. It also allowed them to plan for the future and include a rapid re-housing service for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan that will be at least partially funded through the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program. This service will be similar to HPRP, drawing upon lessons the community learned through its implementation.
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Cincinnati Transforms Its Emergency Assistance System to Focus on Outcomes

HPRP helped Cincinnati, Ohio, reinvent its homelessness prevention program to great success. Using HPRP funding to consolidate and coordinate homelessness prevention services offered by various providers, Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, have helped more than 1,500 households avoid homelessness in just 2 years. A renewed focus on tracking and improving housing outcomes through their local HMIS has enabled service providers to boost the financial assistance and case management support available to each household.. HMIS has enabled service providers to boost the financial assistance and case management support available to each household.
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