$1.6 billion aimed to cut homelessness

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan unveiled the first major initiative in the Obama administration's plan to combat homelessness Thursday, announcing $1.6 billion in new grants to more than 6,300 state and community groups.

"President Obama is leading this country through a very serious period of economic turmoil," Donovan said in a conference call. In the midst of a "foreclosure crisis unlike any we've ever seen ... we must not lose site of those among us who are living and, sadly, dying on our streets."

The groups can immediately apply for loans knowing their grant has been approved, and then pay off the loan when the federal check arrives, a HUD official told CNN.

The money "will literally save lives," Donovan said, through expanded street-level outreach and emergency shelter funding, as well as increased access to both transitional and permanent housing.