The Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH) campaign sent a sign-on letter to Congressional appropriators on September 13 urging them to expand Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) to an additional 200,000 households in their fiscal year (FY) 2023 spending bills, as requested in President Biden’s budget request. Rental assistance is a critical tool for helping people with the lowest incomes afford decent, stable homes and avoid homelessness. However, due to chronic under-funding and disinvestment, only one in four households eligible for a federal housing voucher receives the help it needs.
Signatories of the letter include leading national organizations from an array of sectors, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Children’s Defense Fund, Children’s HealthWatch, Church World Service, Civil Rights Corps, Food Research & Action Center, Justice in Aging, National Association of Social Workers, National League of Cities, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, National Women’s Law Center, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Union for Reform Judaism, and ZERO TO THREE.
The FY23 spending bill offers Congress the chance to obtain a tremendous return on investment by expanding Housing Choice Vouchers to an additional 200,000 households, and the sign-on letter urges appropriators not to neglect such a valuable opportunity.
Read the letter here.