Fourth wave of relief funds provides additional housing choice vouchers to public housing authorities
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson announced nearly $77 million in a fourth wave of CARES Act funding, supporting up to 8,300 additional vouchers. Provided through HUD’s Section 811 Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Program, this wave of relief funds will provide affordable housing to non-elderly people living with disabilities. See the local impact of the housing assistance announced today.
“As we continue to fight this invisible enemy, we are working quickly and effectively to ensure public housing authorities nationwide are receiving the necessary funding needed to keep their residents safe,” said Secretary Carson. “This wave of relief funds will provide additional housing choice vouchers to residents living with disabilities, allowing them to live safely and independently through these unprecedented times.”
“Since the inception of the Mainstream Voucher program in 2017, HUD has allocated more than $500 million for this program,” said Hunter Kurtz, Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing. “These new funds, which were approved by the President in the CARES Act, will be important to help those most at risk stay at home during the COVID-19 situation.”
This program helps to further the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act by helping persons with disabilities live in community-based settings. The program also encourages partnerships with health and human service agencies with a demonstrated capacity to coordinate voluntary services and supports to enable individuals to live independently in the community.
After President Trump signed the CARES Act into law, HUD acted immediately to allocate its first wave of funding – over $3 billion to assist communities and non-profits – to help protect the homeless and Americans with compromised immune systems, as well as assist Tribal communities in their COVID-19 response efforts. And on May 5th, only 39 days after the CARES Act was signed into law – a record for HUD’s CPD grant programs – all funding for the first wave of the CARES Act for CPD formula programs was reserved and grant agreements made available to the HUD CPD field offices to support 1,700+ grants. CPD field offices are now in the process of reviewing plan amendments submitted by grantees and executing those grant agreements.
Shortly after the initial $3 billion tranche, HUD announced a second wave of funding to help low-income Americans living in Public Housing and a third wave to help communities bolster coronavirus response and relief efforts.
For more information on HUD’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic and the actions the Department has taken, please visit HUD.gov/coronavirus. Public Housing Authorities across the Nation have jumped into action to help assist their tenants and their communities during this unprecedented time. Read more about their stories featured in HUD’s Neighbors Helping Neighborscampaign, here.