HUD Grant Milestones

Guess who is turning 50?

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is celebrating the big ‘five-oh’ this year (and so is yours truly).  I have a long history with HUD, their grant programs, their policies and their staff. I believe our greatest impact on economic development, childhood health and wellness, life-long health and wellness, workforce stability and growth, energy efficiency, and so much more – starts at home and with homes. The quality, safety and accessibility of housing, especially within our poorest communities, has a profound effect on our public systems – schools, the judicial system, medical system. I celebrate our advances and our partnerships to advance safe, healthy, energy efficient and affordable housing for all. For 50 years, HUD has worked to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.

It’s Time to Celebrate!

To get the celebration started, HUD launched HUD 50 website.  

You can also follow on social media using the hashtag #HUDat50 to view the latest updates.

1. There’s an interactive timeline that allows you to trace the entire history of HUD, one that starts with the founding of the Federal Housing Administration in the midst of the Great Depression and ends with the crucial steps our Department took to stem the housing crisis of the Great Recession.
2. You can also read about some of the extraordinary people who began their lives in public housing – a list that includes a former U.S. President, a current Supreme Court Justice, and the CEO of a billion-dollar corporation.
3. And since none of HUD’s accomplishments would have been possible without our incredible employees, our site will acknowledge some of the inspirational women and men who’ve helped to shape our identity, while also highlighting some of the great work that our employees continue to perform each and every day.

 Here are just a few of  the HUD Grant milestones: 

1965 – Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 created HUD as a cabinet-level agency and initiated a leased housing program to make privately owned housing available to low-income families.

1968 –Title VIII of the Civil Right Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act) – Equality in housing opportunity was legislated by Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.

1971 – Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act – Title III,  Federal Demonstration and Research Program – The Act requires HUD to develop and carry out a demonstration and research program to determine the nature and extent of lead-based paint poisoning in the US and methods by which lead-based paint can most effectively be removed to prevent childhood lead poisoning. This work becomes the foundation of the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Housing (making it one of the key HUD Grant Milestones impacting my path in grants).

1974 – Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, Section 8 Tenant-Based Certificates, Housing and Community Development Act – HUD consolidates programs into the Community Development Block Grant program to provide communities with resources to address a wide range of unique development needs; and supply rental subsidies to eligible tenants residing in newly constructed, rehabilitated, and existing rental and cooperative apartment projects (Tennant-based -Section 8 Voucher Program)

1977 – Urban Development Action Grants (UDAG) – Grants were authorized to assist designated distressed communities.Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 – Establishes Housing Development Action Grant and Rental Rehabilitation programs.

1988 – HUD Helps to House First Nation’s Peoples from Coast to Coast – Indian Housing Act gives HUD new responsibilities for housing needs of Native Americans and Alaskan Indians. 

1990 –  National Affordable Housing Act (Cranston-Gonzalez), Low-Income Housing Preservation and Residential Homeownership Act (1990) –  National Affordable Housing Act (Cranston-Gonzalez) focused on homeownership and tenant-based assistance and launched the HOME housing block grant. The Low-Income Housing and Preservation and Residential Homeownership Act of 1990 attempted to maintain the supply of affordable housing by offering project incentives to preserve low-income rental properties.

1995  – “Blueprint for Reinvention of HUD” – Proposes sweeping changes in public housing reform and Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and consolidation of other programs into three block grant.

2008 Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA)– In response to the subprime mortgage crisis, HERA facilitated FHA  guarantees up to $300 billion in new 30-year fixed rate mortgages for subprime borrowers.

2009 – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) – infused HUD  with over 13 billion for HUD-administered projects and programs. Nearly 75 percent of which was allocated to state and local recipients.

How has HUD made a difference for you or for you community?