Low-Income Seniors To See Housing Opportunity

                                                                                                                      

The Desert Review
By Staff Writer of The Desert Review | September 23, 2021

IMPERIAL COUNTY — The US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Multifamily Housing Programs announced that it has awarded $2.4 million to EAH Housing, Inc. Part of $143 million in grants to non-profit organizations across the country, the funding will support the development of 69 units of new affordable multifamily rental housing along with ongoing project rental assistance for very low-income seniors in Imperial County.

The awards were made under HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program and will help fund the construction and operation of 1,484 new deeply rent-assisted units for low- and very low-income seniors who will pay rent based on their income, according to the press release. Several of the grantees will be creating mixed-income communities, building 701 additional affordable and market-rate units as part of these funded projects, for a total of 2,185 homes.

“These awards support the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to increase housing stability among the nation’s most vulnerable populations, including the very low-income seniors these grants will ultimately help,” said Lopa Kolluri, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in HUD’s Office of Housing.

“Today we have awarded much needed funds to non-profit organizations that will put them to immediate use in developing properties for seniors within communities that provide easy access to the supportive services this population requires to continue to live independently,” said Ethan Handelman, Deputy Assistant Secretary in HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs.

Section 202 grants provide very low-income elderly persons 62 years of age or older with the opportunity to live independently in an environment that provides support services to meet their unique needs. HUD provides these funds to non-profit organizations in two forms:

• Capital Advances: This is funding that covers the cost of developing, acquiring, or rehabilitating the development. Repayment is not required as long as the housing remains available for occupancy by very low-income elderly persons for at least 40 years.

• Project Rental Assistance Contracts: This is renewable project-based funding which covers the difference between residents’ contributions toward rent and the cost of operating the project. Section 202 program eligibility requires residents to be very low-income or earning less than 50 percent of the area median income. However, most households in the Section 202 program earn less than 30 percent of the median for their area.