The U.S Secretary of Housing and Urban Development visited the Twin Cities Monday to announce a big increase in money that will go into affordable housing programs in the country, and here in Minnesota.
Secretary Marcia Fudge stopped in North Minneapolis where she said the Biden Administration is adding $15 million to help with the affordable housing crisis, particularly among older Americans.
“When you consider the fact that seniors make up 16 percent of the country and by 2040 that number will be up to 20 percent, it’s a good start,” said Secretary Fudge.
She toured a home owned by an older couple, John and Betty Smith. They have lived in the home on Thomas Avenue for 37 years and raised their family there. They just had some modifications and other updates in their home, which will allow them to stay there, and be safe inside their home.
Smith is beyond grateful for a brand new refrigerator that she and her husband John got from the federal home modification program. They also got a new light fixture door handles and safety bars for the bath.
“It’s so nice to be able to take a bath and not have to worry about falling,” said Betty Smith.
Their home is among the more than 150 that have been modified by Habitat for Humanity Twin Cities over the past couple of years thanks to funding from the national Home Modification Program.
“We need more than a $100 billion to fix the housing problems in this country,” Secretary Fudge explains. “We need at least $70 billion just to fix public housing.”
While the $15 million that has been added won't fix all of the problems, Fudge says it is a start.
Secretary Fudge visited two other properties to discuss housing supply issues and the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to increase access to affordable housing. The first property features a public housing preservation of 174 deeply affordable units through HUD Rental Assistance Demonstration financing.
The second property experienced elimination of blight through the rehabilitation of a long vacant building into seven perpetually affordable homeownership condominiums.