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For 20 years and I love this map up here, every single of those million units coming
to light. Literally and figuratively. For 20 years, the HOME program has brought the
Federal government together with stakeholders and public servants like you to produce affordable
housing for our most vulnerable families.
When he signed the bill that created HOME, the first President Bush expressed the hope
that the program would ìpromote partnerships among the Federal government, states, localities,
nonprofit organizations, and private industryî to serve low-income families.
And indeed it has. Thanks to the remarkable work of each of you and other grantees and
other partners across the country, the HOME program has leveraged four dollars of other
public and private investment for every dollar the program spends directly ñ producing one
million units of affordable housing. By any measure, that is a historic, historic
milestone ñ and I want to thank you, each and every one of you for your contribution
to that remarkable milestone we celebrate today.
Of course, the HOME program didnít just appear out of thin air. It happened at a moment when
adequate, affordable rental housing was increasingly scarce ñ and not coincidentally, homelessness
was on the rise. And so, Congress tasked two leaders in the
housing communityóurban development pioneer and founder of the Enterprise Foundation,
Jim Rouse, and David Maxwell, who served at HUD in the 1970s and went on to lead Fannie
Mae in the 1980sówith finding a solution. But the Rouse-Maxwell Commission understood
that the Federal government couldnítóand shouldnítódo the job alone ñ that truly
tackling the problem would require the partnership of states and localities.
Thatís why Rouse, Maxwell, and the others proposed the first-ever dedicated block grant
specifically for affordable housing. Theyíd seen how the Community Development
Block Grant leveraged the dollars to build the economic infrastructure a community needs
to survive and to thrive ñ and saw the need for a flexible funding tool that communities
could use to focus solely on affordable housing. And with the bipartisan support of folks like
Senator Alan Cranston, Congressman Henry Gonzalez and President Bush, the HOME program was born.
Today, we celebrate the difference HOME has made helping responsible families achieve
the dream of sustainable homeownership, building affordable rental homes and providing assistance
to the families who live in them, and offering a lifeline to our most vulnerable citizens
who may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Just ask Michelle Nash of Owensboro, Kentucky, a mother of three who used a HOME investment
to help build the one-millionth unit in the programís history. With $35,000 in HOME funding,
and the support of Habitat for Humanity, Michelle built the first home sheís ever owned.
Today, she makes a $400 monthly mortgage payment, raises her kids and even works as a full-time
student. For more than 425,000 families like Michelleís,
the HOME program has provided a path to sustainable homeownership, including nearly 50,000 just
since President Obama took office. At the same time, HOME has also helped communities
rehabilitate their affordable rental housing stock.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit was responsible for about half of all multifamily production
over the last two decades. And when costs outstrip the funding available through the
Tax Credit, as you know, HOME is there to close the gap and ensure affordability over
the long term. Indeed, HOME ìgapî financing has helped
complete over 132,000 thousand low income housing tax credit homes in the last 5 years
alone ñ at a moment in our history when itís needed most.
And not only is HOME helping provide communities with the affordable rental housing stock they
need ñ itís also providing critical assistance vulnerable families need just to pay their
rent. Through tenant-based vouchers, the HOME program
has supported more than 240,000 families since the program began, including nearly 35,000
since the beginning of the Obama Administration. Many of these families were vulnerable to
homelessness, if not already homeless. Indeed, 79 percent of the people we serve through
HOME are extremely low-income, and earn less than 30 percent of the median income of their
communities. Because of HOMEóand because of youóthese
families have a place to call home. Today these funds are in some ways more important
than ever, as we face many of the same problems the Rouse-Maxwell Commission identified nearly
25 years ago ñ from an increase in homelessness to an aging, undercapitalized affordable housing
stock in the wake of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
That was borne out by the results of HUDís Worst Case Housing Needs survey, in which
we reported the largest increase in worst case housing needs in the surveyís history
between 2007 and 2009 we saw a 20 percent increase in worst case housing needs.
That totals 1.2 million households that were added to the roles of those with worse case
housing needs.
But the growing need for affordable housing, as you know, isnít the only challenge we
face. In this fiscal climate, we all need to do more with less.
And so weíve had to make some tough cuts ñ including a 12 percent cut to HOME in our
2011 budget agreement with Congress.
Letís be very clear. The President said this a number of times. These are cuts we wouldnít
make in a different budget environment. These are good strong programs as we all know. Mercedes
and I know as the two biggest HOME programs in the country before we came to HUD.
But Americans are tightening their belts across the country ñ and frankly we need to do the
same. Still, this is clearly a changed budget environment
from the one in which weíve operated over the last two years ñ and a changed political
environment as well. I hope each and every one of you is out telling
the good story about HOME that Iíve just described and you all know to be true.
But thatís not all we need to do. We also need to be sure that our own houses
are in order. You all know that we are going to have a zero
tolerance for fraud, waste and abuse at HUD and itís more important than ever that you
share that commitment ñ and use HOME funding for one reason, and one reason alone:
To produce as much affordable housing with every dollar as we possibly can.
We all need to hold ourselves accountable to the families we serve and the taxpayers
we work for. And I want to thank each and every one of you for that commitment. That
has always been important that at a time today as I said at the outset of my remarks. At
a time when too often the value of the partnership of Federal, state and local government can
do isnít fully appreciated. We need to make sure that every single dollar is as effective
as possible. And I know that together weíre going to do that.