RISMEDIA, May 6, 2011—Twenty years ago, Senator Alan Cranston, Congressman Henry Gonzalez and housing advocates from across the country designed a new block grant program exclusively dedicated to producing affordable housing. Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) has produced one million units of affordable housing.
Located in Owensboro, Kentucky, the one-millionth “HOME unit” is home to Michelle Nash, a mother of three who helped to construct the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house along with Habitat for Humanity.
“We’ve come a long way since the HOME Program got its start 20 years ago,” says HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “Today, State and local governments rely on the HOME program to produce affordable homes for very-low and extremely low-income families struggling to find a place to call home. Reaching one million homes proves this landmark production program works!”
Michelle Nash purchased her 1,200 square-foot home for $65,500 after contributing 600 hours of labor and four months of her time toward constructing it. The total cost of construction was $109,260 with a total HOME investment of $35,000. The monthly mortgage is only $400 allowing Michelle to work as a full-time student as she cares her children.
Nash says, “It’s always been my dream to own a home but the tough part was how I was going to achieve this goal.
I feel truly blessed that this program has given me the ability to afford a home and provide for my kids.”
“We’re ecstatic that Owensboro is home to the one-millionth HOME unit built in America,” says Mayor Ron Payne. “Redevelopment is our number one priority in our city. Owensboro remains committed to improving the quality of life for low- to moderate-income families and individuals in our community, by expanding housing choice with quality affordable homes produced with HOME funding.”
HUD’s HOME Program
The Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act created the HOME Program in 1992. HOME provides formula grants to States and localities that communities use-often in partnership with local nonprofit groups-to fund a wide range of activities that build, buy, and/or rehabilitate affordable housing for rent or homeownership or provide direct rental assistance to low-income people.
Each year, HUD allocates approximately $2 billion to more than 600 State and local participating jurisdictions to increase the stock of affordable housing and provide tenant-based rental assistance for low- and very low-income households. Since the program’s inception, the program has completed more than one million units of affordable housing. In addition, the HOME Program provided more than 240,000 families with critically needed rental assistance. Each dollar of HOME funds leverages nearly $4 million in other public and private investments with a combined $78 billion over the life of the program.
For more information visit www.HUD.gov.
