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provision of technical assistance about pertinent queries. Staff also conduct on-site monitoring visits of the City's subrecipients to assess the subrecipients' compliance with the CDBG program. Actions Taken to Reduce the Number of Persons Living Below the Poverty Level The City's strategy to reduce the number of households with incomes below the poverty line is to fund programs that assist people to achieve economic independence and to preserve and build affordable rental housing. The City funded twenty-one (21) social service agencies that administer twenty-two (22) projects with General Funds that provided support services to help thousands of individuals reach personal and economic sustainability. Among these grant recipients was Davis Street Family Resource Center (DSFRC), which has a Workforce Development Program designed to assist clients to become job ready to secure employment and/or increase their current wages to become more self sufficient. DSFRC also provides life skills training to teach clients how to budget and shop with limited resources and fixed incomes. This program works with families in job preparation, including workshops that focus on resume writing, interview skills, job-hunting tactics, and job placement. Many clients are referred by Alameda County Social Services, and in crisis due to reaching their time limits for benefits. In addition, DSFRC offers clients resources such as one-on-one consultations to ascertain their skills, define career goals, and provide access to its "dress-for-success" closet. With CDBG funds, Building Futures with Women and Children (BFWC) also provided pre- employment, life skills and housing assistance, as well as benefits advocacy to move clients into self sufficiency. In FY 2008-09, BFWC increased the level of self sufficiency for 93%, or sixty- seven (67) of seventy-two (72) women who stayed 30 days or more, by one level or more in the following areas: housing, employment/income, domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health, and/or physical health. Fifty-one (51) of the seventy-two (72) women or 71 % who stayed at the shelter 30 days or more, exited to long-term housing and/or employment. Through its CDBG grant, Project Literacy's services help functionally illiterate people gain literacy skills that they can apply in social, educational, employment, and community settings, thereby increasing their independence and self sufficiency. One hundred fifty-five (155) out of ] 58 students (98%) increased their independence and self-sufficiency as indicated by their demonstration ofnew applications of literacy skills. Ongoing preservation and monitoring of 695 below-market rate rental units is also an anti- poverty strategy, because the City maintains HUD rent limits for extremely low-, very low-, low- and moderate-income people and for special populations like seniors and the disabled. The City provided Redevelopment funds this year to DSFRC to recruit new tenants for available BMR rental units and provide housing search assistance to prevent homelessness. The City continued to seek opportunities to work with non-profit and for-profit developers to build affordable rental and ownership housing and to find affordable housing opportunities. As previously mentioned the City and Eden Housing, Inc. are currently constructing Estabrook Place, a new affordable senior rental complex on East 14th Street. Consolidated Annual Performance and Cvaluation Report: FY 2008-2009 C1ty of San Leandro Page 29