During the most recent national “HoUSed: Universal, Stable, and Affordable Housing” call, we were joined by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), who discussed the need for affordable housing investments in the “American Jobs Plan.” We also learned about how HUD’s Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program can help survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking find safe, stable housing; received updates on emergency rental assistance (ERA) implementation; heard the latest on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium; received updates from the field and Capitol Hill; and more.
Senator Klobuchar shared how federal assistance helped her family find an affordable home when she was growing up and emphasized how the pandemic has underscored the vital importance of safe, affordable housing for all. She noted the importance of expanding the supply of affordable housing stock and increasing federal support for affordable housing. Senator Murray discussed the housing provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act and highlighted the need for continued investments in the nation’s housing infrastructure in order to adequately address the underlying causes of the affordable housing crisis.
Karlo Ng of the National Alliance for Safe Housing (NASH) discussed HUD’s latest guidance for the EHV program authorized in the American Rescue Plan Act. EHVs are specifically for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, and those fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking. Karlo shared how the guidance can be used to help survivors find safe, stable, affordable, and accessible housing, and made suggestions for how Public Housing Authorities and Continuums of Care can form partnerships with domestic violence and sexual assault agencies in their areas to connect survivors to vouchers.
NLIHC’s Rebecca Yae and Neetu Nair provided an update on tracking ERA programs across the country. As of May 10, NLIHC was tracking 351 ERA programs, representing 65% of jurisdictions that received ERA funds from Treasury and over $20.5 billion of the almost $47 billion allocated for ERA. Rebecca and Neetu also shared information about NLIHC’s new ERA Dashboard, which tracks the status and design of ERA programs, and the new ERA Resource Hub loaded with materials to help programs implement best practices for equitable rental assistance distribution.
Arjuna Heim and Abbey Seitz from Hawaii Appleseed gave a field update, NLIHC’s Sarah Saadian provided an update from Capitol Hill, and NLIHC’s Jen Butler shared tips and insights on effective communication strategies for pushing forward the HoUSed campaign’s legislative priorities.
NLIHC hosts national calls every week. On today’s call, we will be joined by Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI). Register for today’s call (Monday, May 24 at 2:30 pm ET) at: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan
Watch a recording of the May 17 call at: https://tinyurl.com/4heh5y8e
Access presentation slides at: https://tinyurl.com/473u69x8