CLEVELAND — Marcia Fudge, the former northeast Ohio member of Congress who is now the secretary for Housing and Urban Development (HUD), announced this week a nationwide $5 billion voucher program aimed at reducing homelessness.
The $5 billion allocation comes from the American Rescue Plan, which congressional Democrats approved earlier this year. The stimulus bill was panned by Republicans for not being aimed at fighting the coronavirus.
“While most of us spent more time in our homes than we ever have, more than half a million Americans had to spend the last year either in crowded shelters or sleeping outside,” said Fudge in a statement. “With HUD’s swift allocation of this $5 billion in American Rescue Plan funding, we are providing communities the resources to give homes to the people who have had to endure the COVID-19 pandemic without one. Congress now needs to pass the President’s American Jobs Plan.”
The Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) will award 70,000 families across the U.S. with funds to help them find housing. According to HUD, 1,507 of the vouchers will be awarded to Ohio families through local public housing authorities.
The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority will be the largest distributor of vouchers in the state with 339 available vouchers. The Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority has 298 vouchers to award, while the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority has 241 available vouchers.
To be eligible for a voucher, an individual or family must be in one of four categories:
- Homeless
- At risk of homelessness
- Fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking
- Recently homeless and for whom providing rental assistance will prevent the family’s homelessness or having high risk of housing instability
To be considered “at risk” of homelessness, a family must earn less than 30% of the area’s median income and not have sufficient resources.
The voucher program is being launched as moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions are set to expire in the coming months.
Although the federal government put in place eviction moratoriums during the pandemic, renters were expected to repay missed payments. The time to repay may come sooner as a federal judge ruled earlier this month that the eviction moratorium violated federal law.
Those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless can click here for available resources.
