The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has made a combined $112 million available to expand the supply of permanent affordable housing for very low-income persons with disabilities.
Funding is available for the two components of the Section 811 Program - traditional Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities and Section 811 Project Rental Assistance. The available funding includes $75 million in capital advances for the development of new supportive housing for this vulnerable population.
This is the first time HUD is offering funding for both programs in nine years, according to the agency.
“Very simply, we need more permanent supportive housing to assist persons living with disabilities,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a news release. “The funding we offer today will support existing developments and, for the first time in nearly a decade, help to produce new affordable housing at a time we need it the most.”
Federal Housing Commissioner Brian Montgomery added: “We’re seeking to fund innovative and efficient housing models that combine form and function-a pleasant and safe place to live, with the appropriate supportive services. Our goal is to support affordable housing developments that allow persons with disabilities to live as independently as possible in their own communities.”
HUD is offering up to $75 million in capital advance funding to eligible nonprofit organizations to fund innovative permanent supportive housing models. Applicants are encouraged to establish formal partnerships with health and human service agencies or other organizations with a demonstrated capacity to coordinate voluntary services and supports for persons with disabilities to enable them to live independently in the community.
To encourage development within Opportunity Zones, HUD will award two preference points to applicants seeking to construct or rehabilitate developments in qualified Opportunity Zone census tracts.
Meanwhile, HUD is making up to $37 million in rental assistance available to eligible housing agencies working closely with State Health and Human Service/Medicaid Agencies. Eligible applicants include any housing agency currently allocating Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC); participating jurisdictions administering affordable housing programs assisted through HUD’s HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program, and/or housing agencies operating similar federal or state affordable housing programs. Eligible applicants are encouraged to align their Project Rental Assistance Programs with state or local initiatives that will directly increase development of permanent supportive housing for extremely low-income persons with disabilities.
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