Trump looks to eliminate a subsidy for affordable housing that serves as a vital source for many rural regions
In the heart of Appalachia, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program has been a beacon of hope for rural communities struggling with affordable housing. However, the program is currently facing an uncertain future due to a lack of additional funding.
The HOME program, which has spent over $38 billion nationwide since its inception, has been instrumental in filling funding gaps and attracting more investment to acquire, build, and repair affordable homes. In rural or significantly rural congressional districts, the program has helped build or repair at least 540,000 homes.
One such community is Owsley County, Kentucky, where residents struggle in an economy blighted by coal mine closures and declining tobacco crop revenues. For at least a dozen years, HOME has been crucial for building affordable homes in the area.
Heather Colley, a single mother and manicurist, is a testament to the program's impact. After moving four times over five years due to high rents in eastern Tennessee, Colley moved into a new three-bedroom home last June, thanks to a grant program. The home was built with HOME funding, and she is now settled in a community that she believes preserves a rural way of life.
Another beneficiary of the program is Tiffany Mullins, a single mother of four who makes $14.30 an hour at Walmart. Mullins, who bought a house thanks to HOME funding and moved in August, sees the program as a vital lifeline for rural communities.
The Woodlands Development Group in the lush mountains of eastern West Virginia also relies on HOME for its smaller rural projects. Dave Clark, the executive director of the group, stated that HOME is "one of the only programs available to us that allows us to develop true workforce housing."
However, the program's future is uncertain. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is working to reduce HOME's red tape that slows construction, but the search results do not provide the name of a congressman who excluded funding for the HOME program in House budget negotiations.
The proposed elimination of the HOME program could set back tens of thousands of future affordable housing developments nationwide, particularly in Appalachian towns and rural counties. When HOME funding was temporarily reduced to $900 million in 2015, the ramifications are still being felt 10 to 15 years later.
Grant administrator Sarah Halcott fears for her clients battling rising housing costs if the HOME program is eliminated. Joshua Stewart of Fahe, a coalition of Appalachian nonprofits, stated that local housing developers are crucial for building affordable homes in deeply rural places and persistent poverty counties.
The Low Income Housing Tax Credit, the biggest program that funds affordable rental housing nationwide, uses HOME grants for 12% of units, totaling 324,000 current individual units. The effect of any reduction in HOME funding would be felt in a fizzling of new affordable housing supply.
As the future of the HOME program hangs in the balance, rural communities like Owsley County, Kentucky, and the families who call them home, anxiously await decisions that will determine their future access to affordable housing.
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