Over the past two years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has worked hard to aggressively implement President Bush's housing agenda and to fulfill its obligations to the American people. HUD's mission is straightforward: to expand homeownership; increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination; support community development and address the housing needs of society's most vulnerable.

Historically, HUD has often suffered from mismanagement and loss of focus. The Department, at times, has strayed from its core mission, seeing its programs balloon from 50 to over 300 during the past few decades. As the nation's 12th HUD Secretary, Mel Martinez took immediate action to put the HUD house back in order and to restore the public's confidence in the agency. Secretary Martinez made ethics, accountability and program effectiveness top priorities. Under his leadership, HUD's management has been streamlined, program duplication is being eliminated and tighter oversight procedures have been mandated. The goal is to become a high-performance department focused on solutions and results for the American people.

One of the Bush Administration's top priorities is to make homeownership a viable option for every American who wants to own a home. HUD responded by launching its Blueprint for the American Dream Partnership in 2002. For those who are not in a position to own a home or choose to rent, HUD is working hard to increase the supply and quality of affordable housing. Examples include HUD's Section 8 housing voucher and housing subsidy programs that help over three million low-income households pay rent.

President Bush also made the unprecedented commitment to eliminate chronic homelessness within the next ten years while ensuring that society's most vulnerable have the shelter and care that they need today (the chronically homeless are a subpopulation of perhaps 150,000 who often have an addiction, or suffer from a disabling physical or mental condition). HUD has reconvened the Interagency Council on Homelessness and recently announced the largest homeless assistance program in the nation's history aimed at funding thousands of local housing and service programs around the country.

The Administration also placed increased emphasis on community renewal and neighborhood redevelopment programs that battle social distress and empower individuals to make a difference at the local level. In the past two years, HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program has provided $8.7 billion in assistance to over 1,000 eligible states and communities to undertake a broad array of housing, community and economic development activities.

As President Bush often says, it is compassionate to actively help our citizens in need and it is conservative to insist on accountability and results. Through HUD's efforts to aggressively implement the President's housing agenda, families now have more opportunities than ever to achieve the American Dream of homeownership; affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans have increased; more protections exist for the most vulnerable among us, including homeless individuals, those with AIDS, the elderly and the disabled; and our nation's communities are being renewed. While much work remains, the Department is proud of the fact that we are making a real difference in people's lives.

Read the Fact Sheet outlining HUD's Accomplishments.

Read the Full Details of HUD's Accomplishments, 2001 - 2002.