The family self-sufficiency program (FSS) is governed by section 23 of the 1937 housing act

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Public and Indian Housing Office awarded $107,625 to Washington Columbia One on January 1, 2026, under the Family Self-Sufficiency Program (CFDA 14.896) to fund FSS Coordinator salaries and fringe benefits through December 31, 2026.

Washington Columbia One, a Boston-based nonprofit partnership and subsidiary of Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, will deploy FSS Coordinators to enroll and maintain families in the program serving public housing, Housing Choice Voucher, and project-based rental assistance properties in Grove Hall, Massachusetts. Coordinator responsibilities include preparing individual training and services plans with participating families, building partnerships with employers and community service providers, and supporting families toward employment and economic self-sufficiency. The program requires coordinators to serve a minimum of 25 participating families during the calendar year following appropriation.

The award is a renewal; Washington Columbia One received identical FSS grants in the prior two calendar years (2024 and 2025), with combined obligated funding across all three awards totaling $304,249. The recipient operates exclusively as a prime grant recipient with no sub-recipients in this program.

Activities

Funds under FSS grants are used solely to fund salary and fringe benefits for FSS coordinators. Responsibilities of FSS coordinators under the award include, but are not limited to, enrolling, and maintaining families in the program, working with families to prepare individual training and services plans (itsps), and building partnerships with employers and service providers in the community. The required number of participating families that a grantee must maintain is outlined in the funding notice and is based on the number of coordinators for which a grantee receives funding. Generally, the grantee must hire/retain one full-time equivalent (FTE) FSS program coordinator for each funded position. For the first full-time FSS coordinator position funded by HUD, programs must serve at least 25 participating families in FSS during the period of performance (the calendar year following the appropriation), and this number increases by 50 families for each additional funded coordinator after the first.

Expected outcomes

Grantees will hire/retain the number of coordinators for which they are funded. These coordinators will serve at least the minimum number of participants required by the grant. Over the 5-7 years of their contract of participation, participants will become employed or improve their employment and wages and meet other individual goals.

Intended beneficiaries

The intended beneficiaries of FSS are families currently residing in public housing (section 9), families currently participating in the housing choice voucher (section 8) program, and those living in project-based rental assistance (pbra) properties.

Subrecipient activities

The recipient does not intend to subaward funds.