Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today awarded $4.9 million to Iowa non-profit groups to create subsidized housing for poor senior citizens and people with disabilities, and to fund counseling grants to help increase homeownership in the state.

In Iowa, $4.9 million of HUD assistance will fund construction or rehabilitation of 54 apartment units for senior citizens and 10 apartment units for people with disabilities, and will also provide rental assistance subsidies on all of these units for five years. The units will be located in Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Onawa.

Cuomo said another $17,300 in housing counseling grants will go to: Hawkeye Area Community Action Program, Inc., in Cedar Rapids ($9,800), and Family Management Credit Counselors, Inc., in Waterloo ($7,500) to boost homeownership in Iowa.

Cuomo made the announcement via TV satellite with Congressman Jim Leach in Washington, and with Davenport Mayor Phillip Yerington in Iowa.

Everyone receiving the housing assistance must be classified as "very low income" - meaning a household with an income of less than 50 percent of the area median. On a national basis, this amounts to an income of less than $8,000 a year.

Residents receiving the assistance pay 30 percent of their income in rent. HUD subsidies pay the remaining funds needed to operate the housing.

"This assistance can transform the lives of some of the most vulnerable Americans," Cuomo said. "Without this aid, impoverished senior citizens and people with disabilities would be forced to live in substandard conditions, in nursing homes or other institutions, or on the streets and in homeless shelters."

Nationally, Cuomo said HUD is awarding $696 million to non-profit groups in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico under the Section 202 Program for senior citizens and the Section 811 Program for people with disabilities. The 202 Program is awarding $563 million of the money and the 811 Program is awarding $133 million. The assistance will create 6,563 apartment units for the elderly and 1,650 rental units for people with disabilities around the United States, and will subsidize the units for five years.

HUD provides Section 202 and Section 811 funds to non-profits in two forms:

• Capital advances. This is money that covers the cost of developing the housing. It does not need to be repaid as long as the housing is available for at least 40 years for occupancy by very low-income elderly or people with disabilities.

• Project rental assistance. This goes to each non-profit to cover the difference between the resident's contribution toward rent and the cost of operating the project.

Homeownership counseling grants that Cuomo announced will be used by the two non-profit agencies to help homebuyers, homeowners, and renters meet their housing needs and work through housing problems. The groups will provide consumer education on the homebuying process to first-time homebuyers, counseling services to help people threatened with foreclosure of their mortgages, and information to senior citizens about reverse mortgages that enable them to borrow against the value of their homes.

Nationally, almost $18 million in housing counseling grants are being awarded to 369 non-profit agencies in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Here is a breakdown of the subsidized housing assistance Cuomo announced for Iowa:

SECTION 202 - ELDERLY HOUSING

Project location: Davenport
Non-profit sponsor: Luther Manor of Scout County, Inc.
Capital Advance: $2,505,700
Five-year rental subsidy: $463,000
Number units and project description: The project will fund the construction of a 38- unit independent living facility for very low-income elderly.

Project location: Onawa
Non-profit sponsor: Siouxland Aging Services, Inc.
Capital Advance: $1,000,900
Five-year rental subsidy: $195,000
Number of units and project description: The project will fund the construction of a 16- unit independent living facility for very low-income elderly.

SECTION 811 - HOUSING FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Project location: Cedar Rapids
Non-profit sponsor: MidAmerica Housing Partnership
Capital Advance: $623,800
Five-year rental subsidy: $122,000
Number of units and project description: The project will fund the construction of a 10- unit independent living facility for people with disabilities.