Crucial, federal investments in affordable housing are failing to keep up with local needs, so South County Habitat is engaging in broad advocacy initiatives with HomesRI to persuade local and state governments to raise significant new housing resources of their own.

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Communities across the country are facing shortages of safe, decent and affordable homes. In many towns and cities, these needs are growing, particularly for affordable rental housing.

 

Federal housing programs provide crucial resources to help local housing providers meet these challenges. For example, the HOME program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, helps providers build, repair or rehabilitate affordable owner-occupied or rental housing, while also supporting other housing activities. HUD’s Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program, or SHOP, helps nonprofit organizations that use the self-help model acquire land, purchase foreclosed or abandoned properties, and develop the infrastructure needed to build affordable homes for first-time, lower-income homeowners. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Section 502 Direct program provides fixed-rate, low-interest loans to help low- and very-low income families purchase or rehabilitate homes in rural areas.