Deep Poverty Complicates Recovery Efforts for Puerto Rico
Within the span of two weeks in September, Hurricanes Irma and Maria brought massive devastation to Puerto Rico. Much of the island still remains without power and tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans…
Disaster Housing Recovery Update, Monday, November 27, 2017
REMINDER OF ADVOCACY OPPORTUNITY Deadline Extended to Wednesday, November 29 (noon ET) to Join Sign-On Letter. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law extended the deadline to join a…
Op-Ed: Hurricane victims are headed for homelessness
An affordable housing crisis is deepening in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Even before the storms, each community had severe shortages of affordable rental homes. Houston and…
Disaster Housing Recovery Update, Monday, November 20, 2017
ADVOCACY ALERT Advocates’ Sign-On Letter to HUD. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law have opened a sign-on letter to HUD Secretary Ben Carson about the urgent need to enter into a…
Administration Submits $44 Billion Disaster Supplemental Request to Congress
The Trump administration submitted its latest disaster supplemental request to Congress on November 17. The White House is requesting $44 billion in emergency aid, including $25.2 billion for FEMA’s…
HUD Announces $5 Billion in Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery for Texas
HUD announced on November 17 that will allocate $5.024 billion of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) funding to the state of Texas from the $7.4 billion that was appropriated…
Senators Urge Creation of Disaster Housing Assistance Program
A group of 12 senators sent a letter on November 15 to FEMA Administrator Brock Long and HUD Secretary Ben Carson urging them to better coordinate hurricane recovery housing efforts in Puerto Rico…
Tax Reform Could Impact Disaster Recovery
Housing groups in Texas and Florida sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) opposing the House Republican tax plan, saying it would hurt disaster recovery efforts. The House tax plan would…
Texas Housers Asks HUD to Investigate Houston Discrimination in Infrastructure Spending
The Texas Low Income Housing Information Service (Texas Housers), an NLIHC state partner, sent a letter to Anna Maria Farias, assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity at HUD, asking…
Florida Governor Seeks to Raid State Housing Trust Fund for Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery
Governor Rick Scott (R) released his budget proposal on November 14 that would take $92 million away from the state affordable housing trust fund to help pay for $1.4 billion in investments for…
Puerto Rico Requests $94.4 Billion for Disaster Recovery
Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló sent a letter and a 90-page plan to President Donald Trump on November 13, requesting $94.4 in additional disaster aid to help the island rebuild and…