The City of Austin and Mayor Steve Adler will join the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge in launching a new federal program aimed at addressing homelessness throughout the city.
The House America initiative will use funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, and other federal resources, toward rehousing and building new housing for those experiencing homelessness, KVUE reported.
"The #AmericanRescuePlan is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the homelessness crisis. Austin is teaming up with @HUDgov and @USICHgov to maximize its impact," Austin Mayor Steve Adler wrote in a tweet.
HUD will also partner with Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, mayors, county leaders, Tribal nation leaders and governors across the country and other cabinet leaders to rehouse approximately 100,000 people while adding a minimum of 20,000 new affordable housing units across the nation, Bloomberg reported.
“I’m proud to join with Secretary Fudge and her House America initiative that will empower Austin with American Rescue Plan resources needed to house people experiencing homelessness,” Adler said, as reported by KVUE. “This program puts Austin within striking distance of achieving the financial goals necessary to create housing at a scale that is transformative and life-sustaining.”
The Housing Authority City of Austin has already received 242 emergency housing vouchers and $11,441,252 in HOME Investment Partnerships grants from the ARPA, KVUE reported. The Travis County Commissioners Court also voted last week to allocate another $110 million in ARPA funding to the homelessness fight after having approved $106 million of funds in June.
Austin's partnership with HUD and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness will have the Texas capital to use federal resources to add new units of affordable housing into the development pipeline by the end of 2022.
The newest initiative to fight homelessness in the nation was launched by President Joe Biden and the U.S. Housing Dept. to have cities, counties and states commit to curbing homelessness in exchange for federal support and resources, Bloomberg reported.
The first cohort of local and state leaders in addition to Austin will also include Oakland, Seattle and Washington, D.C., as well as Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., and the governors of California and Maine.
According to Bloomberg, $350 billion in federal relief from the American Rescue Plan will go toward the House America initiative.