Washington, D.C
Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout attends conference in Washington D.C.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) – Mayor Anna Stout of Grand Junction and around 50 mayors from across the country met with members of Congress in Washington D.C. These mayors are from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and they took part in a two-day meeting to advocate for federal solutions to the housing and homelessness crisis affecting cities across the county.
Each mayor brought their perspective and experience on how their communities have dealt with the homelessness crisis. Elected representatives and White House officials shared resources and future federal budget insights to help city leaders with funding and programs. The three priorities that the mayoral delegation focused were on helping veterans qualify for vouchers and assistance, increasing funding for housing vouchers, and increasing the cap for project-based vouchers.
Under Mayor Stout, the City of Grand Junction has allocated over 13 million dollars to housing and homelessness projects in the past two years, and she told us that there is more work to do and much more resources are needed. “…it’s almost like being tasked with building a house but only given a hammer and nails. We need more tools, and we need more funding.”
Scott Beilfuss, an outspoken houselessness advocate and Grand Junction City Council member believes the city is not moving fast enough. “…there are some more things that I believe we could be doing here locally… …the focus of what we can do with the money we have, is not moving longer, quick enough for me.”
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