The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Housing Counseling is announcing the award of $10 million in grant funding under its Homeownership Initiative to 23 HUD-approved housing counseling agencies. The funding will support activities by these agencies to prepare and equip prospective homebuyers to successfully navigate the homebuying process and guide them to access the affordable homes they deserve. The announcement was made in Harrisburg, PA, by Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner Julia Gordon at the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, a recipient of one of the grants under the program.
In New York, HUD awarded $986,260.00 to the National Urban League.
“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, we are unlocking doors of opportunity for families to achieve homeownership and build generational wealth,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “This Homeownership Month, I’m proud to announce that we are awarding another $10 million to equip prospective homebuyers with the tools they need to navigate the process, which will expand homeownership to everyone who wants it.”
“Individuals and families that can purchase a home put themselves on the road to generational wealth and a stable future,” said Alicka Ampry-Samuel, HUD Regional Administrator for New York and New Jersey. “HUD continues to think outside the box to assist underserved Americans. This funding will connect residents that likely didn’t see a path towards homeownership to resources that can potentially change the course of their lives for the better.”
The grants awarded today will enable HUD-approved housing counseling agencies to provide culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate services for pre- and post-purchase housing counseling, with the goal of increasing homeownership rates among historically underserved communities. The funding affirms the ongoing commitment of the Biden-Harris Administration to help close the racial wealth gap and address homebuying barriers that disproportionately affect marginalized communities.
“Housing counseling agencies play a unique and critical role in helping first-time homebuyers achieve homeownership,” said Assistant Secretary for Housing Julia Gordon. “Today’s grant awards will help housing counseling agencies throughout the country reach those who may never have believed they could own a home and help them to prepare for, enter into, and maintain homeownership.”
“The Housing Counseling Homeownership Initiative is an innovative approach to linking funding for vital housing counseling with specific outreach programs geared to homeownership education and home purchase decisioning,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Counseling David Berenbaum. “We intend to make this initiative a model for the funding of future programs that can directly and effectively serve first-time homebuyers in underserved communities. New homeowners will have the benefit of both pre- and post-purchase housing counseling from a trusted advisor: the HUD Certified Housing Counselor.”
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