HUD ANNOUNCES $9.4 MILLION IN HOUSING ASSISTANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AID TO SANTA CLARA COUNTY
Funding Helps Lower Income Families and Expands Business Opportunity

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA - The Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $9,418,000 to Santa
Clara County today that will provide rental assistance to low-income families and stimulate job growth and business development in the region.

The funding is being given in this way:

• $5.7 million for 445 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV);
• $2,584,000 for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG);
• $1,043,000 in Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME); and,
• $91,000 in Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG).

Santa Clara County is one of eight housing agencies in California to receive the new housing Choice Vouchers
(HCV), approved in HUD's 2002 budget. This program helps low-income families rent apartments or buy homes. The city's HCV program currently assists more than 9,000 families.

"These new vouchers will help more Santa Clara families find affordable housing," said HUD Assistant Secretary
Michael Liu, who made the announcement today at a news conference with Santa Clara County Housing Authority Executive Director Alex Sanchez.

Santa Clara County's vouchers are part of the $95 million HUD awarded today to 48 states and Puerto Rico. The vouchers will allow 16,460 low-income families to lease or purchase homes or apartment units. All totaled, the eight housing agencies in California received $18,174,740 for 2,292 new vouchers today.

HUD's Housing Choice Vouchers Program is the federal government's major initiative that helps low-income families, including the elderly and people with disabilities, find affordable housing. The HCV Program currently assists 1.8
million families with rent payments. The program now allows voucher holders who qualify to use their vouchers to assist with monthly mortgage payments. Over the past three years, about 300 families have used their vouchers to become homeowners. Families receiving HUD rental assistance vouchers generally pay 30 percent of their income for rent, with HUD subsidies picking up the remainder.

The vouchers distributed today are called fair share vouchers because they are distributed to communities that compete based on the housing needs of low-income families in each state. Only PHAs that demonstrated an ability
to use 97 percent of their 2001 vouchers were eligible to compete for the new vouchers.

The CDBG, HOME and ESG funding will help this community do the critical work of stimulating business development and job growth as well as helping the homeless, Liu continued.

First awarded in 1974, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds enable state and local governments to target their own economic development priorities. Although the rehabilitation of affordable housing has traditionally been the largest single use of the grants, the program is also an increasingly important catalyst for economic development activities that expand job and business opportunities for lower income families and neighborhoods.

HOME (Home Investment Partnerships Program) is the largest federal block grant to state and local governments designed exclusively to create affordable housing for low-income households. Since 1992, more than a half million affordable housing units have been acquired, constructed or rehabilitated and nearly 70,000 tenants have received direct rental assistance. In addition, more than 200,000 new homebuyers have received assistance to purchase
their first homes through the HOME program.

Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) help communities meet the basic shelter needs of homeless individuals and families. Part of HUD's award-winning Continuum of Care initiative, these grants also provide transitional housing and a
variety of support services designed to move the homeless away from a life on the street toward permanent housing

HUD's block grant programs are distributed by formula around the country based on criteria including population, income levels, poverty rates and age of housing stock.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities, creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans, supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as
enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet.

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