FACT SHEET: One-Year Anniversary of HUD's "House America" Initiative to Address Homelessness

September 20, 2022, marks one year since U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge launched House America, a federal initiative to address the crisis of homelessness by leveraging the American Rescue Plan and other federal resources through a Housing First approach. Housing First is a proven model of addressing homelessness by quickly rehousing people experiencing homelessness and ensuring that they have access to permanent housing and supportive services. House America aims to re-house at least 100,000 households experiencing homelessness, and to add at least 20,000 new units of affordable housing into the development pipeline by December 31, 2022.

Since Secretary Fudge's announcement, communities within the initiative have issued nearly all of their Emergency Housing Vouchers, provided by the American Rescue Plan, to American households and have dedicated over $450 million in federal grants toward rehousing efforts. Tackling homelessness requires collaboration at all levels of government, and HUD will continue to work with its partners and provide assistance and expertise on deploying federal resources to maximize effect. Below are examples of the progress House America has made over the past year:

Participating Leaders

Elected leaders representing 103 communities have joined House America. These include 79 municipalities, 16 counties, one regional leadership council, one regional council of governments, four states, one U.S. territory, and one Tribal nation. Together, these jurisdictions represent over 54 percent of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S.

Rapid Rehousing

House America communities have issued nearly all of their 22,500 Emergency Housing Vouchers to households, getting crucial resources to people who need them. Of these, 10,000 households successfully leased up.

House America communities have dedicated at least $450 million in Emergency Solutions Grants - CARES Act (ESG-CV) funds towards re-housing activities (Rapid Rehousing).

Current data shows that together, House America communities have rehoused at least 62,000 households.

The new Fair Market Rents (FMRs) released by HUD in September will make it easier for more individuals and families with housing vouchers - including vouchers created under the Biden-Harris Administration - to use their vouchers to access affordable housing.

Affordable Housing Pipeline

Current data shows that together, House America communities have added at least 15,500 units of affordable and supportive housing into their development pipelines.

Resources and Support

HUD and the Biden-Harris Administration have provided robust resources and support to empower communities to meet the housing needs of people experiencing homelessness. Below are examples of resources and support provided specifically to House America communities:

• Community-Wide Commitments: HUD has provided more than $1.25 billion through HUD's 2021 Continuum of Care (CoC) competition awards. The CoC program is designed to promote a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness. The program is the largest source of federal grant funding for homeless services and housing programs servicing people experiencing homelessness.
• Housing, Shelter, and Outreach: HUD has provided more than $1.3 billion through CARES ESG-CV for housing, shelter, and outreach services.
• Emergency Housing Vouchers: House America communities have collectively received 22,500 Emergency Housing Vouchers through the American Rescue Plan.
• Housing Development and Rental Assistance: HUD has provided more than $1.5 billion in HOME-ARP funds for housing development, rental assistance, or services through the American Rescue Plan.
• State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds: House America communities have collectively received more than $50 billion through the American Rescue Plan's State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (Treasury) that communities can use to respond and recover from the pandemic, including housing development, rental assistance, or other housing services. HUD and Treasury are working together to assist recipients in implementing funds for affordable housing (https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0889).
• Virtual Convenings and Technical Assistance: HUD holds twice monthly virtual convenings of House America leaders to spotlight successes and share best practices. The department also provides tools and technical assistance to support House America communities in meeting their goals.
• Coordinating Health and Supportive Services: The Housing and Services Resource Center (HSRC) (https://acl.gov/HousingAndServices) was created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HUD to foster collaboration and partnerships between the organizations and systems that help people live successfully and stably in the community, such as those providing housing resources, homelessness services, health care and mental health services, independent living services, home and community-based services, supportive services, and more. The HSRC continues to provide technical assistance to states and communities, including those participating in House America. For example, an August 2022 webinar with approximately 1,600 participants highlighted the importance of partnerships between HUD Continuums of Care, the disability and aging networks, and health services providers in addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness and provided examples of successful approaches from two states that could be adopted in other communities.
• Transit-Oriented Development: The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), in support of House America, issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the 2022 Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development Planning (www.transit.dot.gov/TODPilot) that prioritizes planning grants in areas with high rates of homelessness.

Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness

House America communities can apply for resources through HUD's recently announced first-ever funding opportunity for coordinated approaches to address unsheltered homelessness, including resources for rural communities. The package provides $322 million, including a $54.5 million set-aside for rural communities, for permanent housing, supportive services, and other costs. It also provides $43 million to fund approximately 4,000 new incremental Housing Choice Vouchers. In August, HUD released its allocation strategy and program requirements for these new vouchers.

Story Map

HUD published an interactive story map (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c1809ec8854a4f62853d19f41ba1f89a) that shares information about communities' approaches to tackling homelessness and provides news updates on progress.

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