ICYMI: Senator Murray, Colleagues Call for ‘Whole of Government’ Approach to Address our Nation’s Affordable Housing Crisis – MORE HERE
Senator Murray: “Every person deserves a safe place to call home and a roof over their head—it’s not asking too much.”
(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced nearly $97 million in funding for 201 community organizations and local governments across Washington state. The funding comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) Program and Youth Homeless Demonstration Program (YHDP). Senator Murray fought to secure over $2.9 billion in total for these two programs in the spending package she helped author and pass in March 2022. Senator Murray worked to include an additional $3.2 billion for these programs in the end of year spending package she helped pass in December 2022, which HUD will award at a later date.
“The affordable housing crisis is plain as day to anyone living in just about any part of Washington state. That’s why I am constantly fighting to get state and local authorities the resources they need to provide supportive services and find permanent homes for people experiencing homelessness,” said Senator Murray. “I worked hard to secure these federal dollars and to expand the resources available to our state to deliver much-needed support for unhoused people—and I am going to keep pushing for more. Every person deserves a safe place to call home and a roof over their head—it’s not asking too much.”
The nearly $97 million going to 201 recipients across Washington state is being allocated through HUD’s CoC Program and the YHDP grant awards. A full list of Washington state recipients awarded HUD funding is here.
The Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is designed to promote community wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, and State and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness. The Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) is an initiative designed to reduce the number of youth experiencing homelessness. The goal of the YHDP is to support selected communities, including rural, suburban, and urban areas across the United States, in the development and implementation of a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness.
Senator Murray has long fought for federal investments in housing to help families in Washington state and across the country be able to keep a roof over their head. Earlier this month, Senator Murray led 18 of her colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden requesting that the federal government utilize a “whole-of-government” approach to address our nation’s housing needs. She recently announced more than $33 million in federal awards from HUD for public housing programs across Washington state. Senator Murray also helped secure $72.1 billion in discretionary spending for HUD in the spending package passed in December, a $6.5 billion increase above fiscal year 2022.
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