Secretary Martinez yesterday said the Department has awarded more than $740 million in housing assistance grants for both the elderly and people with disabilities if they have very-low incomes.

To be classified as "very low-income," a household income cannot exceed 50 percent of the area median income.

Some $593 million of the funding - Section 202 grants - will assist the very low-income elderly by helping construct new apartments, rehabilitate old ones and subsidize rents for five years so that residents will pay only 30 percent of their adjusted incomes for rent. Nationally, the maximum income permitted is $19,775 for a one-person household.

The remaining $146 million in funding - Section 811 grants - will assist very low-income people with disabilities by providing small apartment buildings, group homes for three to four people or condominiums. Residents will pay 30 percent of their adjusted income for rent and the federal government will pay the rest. At least one household member must have a very low-income and be at least 18 years old and have a disability, such as a physical or developmental disability or chronic mental illness. Generally, this means that a one-person household will have an annual income of about $11,865.