WASHINGTON, D.C. – Inclement weather could not keep U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro from his address to the NLIHC 2015 Housing Legislative Forum, March 2 at the Washington Court Hotel. Speaking in front of an audience of approximately 250 tenant leaders and national and local advocates from 37 states and the District of Columbia, Secretary Castro emphasized the department’s values, calling HUD the “department of opportunities because housing shapes lives.” In addition, he highlighted how the President’s FY16 budget proposal reflects the values we all cherish.
Secretary Castro took the opportunity to announce that HUD is awarding $150 million in rental assistance to 25 state housing agencies and the District of Columbia to provide permanent affordable rental housing and supportive services to nearly 4,600 households for extremely low income people with disabilities, many of whom are hoping to transition out of institutional settings back to the community. The support to state housing agencies will come through the Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Program.
After his prepared remarks, Secretary Castro spent time engaging with participants and answering questions. An issue important to several Forum participants was HUD’s support to Colonias in the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Secretary Castro shared that the President’s FY16 budget proposal increases the percentage of Community Development Block Grant funding that states along the U.S.–Mexico border can use for affordable housing and community development in these severely distressed communities.
Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, the National Low income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest income in the United States have affordable and decent homes
National Low Income Housing Coalition
727 15th Street NW 6th Floor, Washington DC 20005
202/662-1530; Fax 200/393-1973; info@nlihc.org www.nlihc.org
On the Home Front 