Secretary Martinez has announced that it is not HUD's policy to exclude faith-based organizations from federally-funded public housing programs because of their religious beliefs. The announcement furthers President Bush's commitment to break down barriers to faith-based and other community grassroots organizations' participation in federal programs.

"At a time of hardship in our cities, when government resources are already stretched to the limit, we need these guardian angels," said Martinez. "My hope is to end the confusion and help to establish a level playing field for faith-based and community organizations that seek a partnership with the federal government."

Secretary Martinez is notifying approximately 3,200 local public housing authorities granting them the authority to institute "an open door policy" for faith-based organizations to provide social services to public housing residents.

Since taking office, Martinez directed a top-to-bottom review of all HUD programs to identify barriers to the participation of community and faith-based organizations. As a result, HUD is working to remove these barriers and reach out to the faith community and other grassroots organizations that are uniquely positioned to more effectively provide social services to low-income Americans.

With the nationwide announcement of an open door policy for groups of all faiths (see full text), the Secretary is seeking to clarify the Department's guidelines after several reports that local housing and community development agencies were restricting access to faith-based organizations.

For example, Martinez also responded to a recent case of a faith-based organization in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that declined $63,000 in federal funding because the City of Sioux Falls required it to alter its practice of praying before serving meals to homeless persons. Citing HUD guidelines, city officials asked St. Francis House to substitute a moment of silence for the voluntary prayer. Sioux Falls reserved funding for St. Francis House while City officials asked HUD to review the case.

"I believe that the request that St. Francis House modify the content of its program was improper," said Martinez. "One of the highest priorities of this Administration is to improve the quality of our society's response to persons in need and there's no better way to do that than encouraging the participation of community and faith-based organizations."

Read the full news release
Visit HUD's Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives