It’s Been 1 Year Since the Launch of “House America.” What’s Changed?
September 20 marked one year since Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia 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.
House America aims to rehouse 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.
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 the effect.
Below are examples of the progress House America has made over the past year:
- 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% of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S.
- 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 toward rehousing activities (Rapid Rehousing).
- Current data shows that together, House America communities have rehoused at least 62,000 households.
- Current data shows that together, House America communities have added at least 15,500 units of affordable and supportive housing into their development pipelines.
HUD also published an interactive story map that shares information about communities’ approaches to tackling homelessness and provides news updates on progress.
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