HUD Announces $5 million for Birmingham in American Rescue Plan Funds to Increase Affordable Housing to Address Homelessness
The United States was facing a severe homelessness crisis even before the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis. On a single night in early 2020, more than 580,000 people experienced homelessness in the United States, a 2.2 percent increase from 2019. In Birmingham, an estimated 1,000 people could experience homelessness on a single night in 2020.
The American Rescue Plan provides strong funding to confront this crisis head on. Today, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced the allocation of $5 million in funding, to be administered through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, to help Birmingham create housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. This funding for Birmingham is part of the $5 billion in HOME funding provided by the American Rescue Plan.
This allocation in HOME-ARP funding underscores the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ending homelessness and to ensuring that housing is a right, not a privilege.
While the HOME-ARP funding will deliver relief to people in Birmingham experiencing or at-risk of experiencing homelessness, President Biden’s American Jobs Plan would build on this relief with additional robust funding to bring the United States closer to ending homelessness and housing instability.
