The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced this week the award of $24.7 million to 98 local public housing authorities across the country to provide permanent affordable housing to people with disabilities. Texas was awarded 150 new vouchers total: 50 each for Austin, 50 for Fort Worth, and 50 for San Antonio, with the three cities sharing more that $1,300,00 under the program.
“People with disabilities deserve access to affordable housing that meets their needs,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “Today’s funding is an important step forward – one that will help more persons with disabilities serve as fully integrated members of their communities and allow them to live independently and with dignity.”
“Non-elderly disabled people are too often left out of the conversation when it comes to policies and their implementation,” said Candace Valenzuela, Southwest HUD Regional Administrator. “These Mainstream Housing Choice Vouchers will both create more opportunities for our disabled neighbors and will also ensure that our communities aren’t missing people and voices that should be present.”
This housing assistance is being provided through the HUD’s Section 811 Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Program, which offers funding to housing agencies “to assist non-elderly persons with disabilities who are transitioning out of institutional or other isolated settings, at serious risk of institutionalization, homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless.”
In Austin, the vouchers have been awarded to the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, representing a worth of nearly $564,000.
