Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced a multibillion-dollar effort to address America’s homelessness problems as tent cities spring up in major metropolitan areas.
The $5.5 billion in funding comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as the Biden administration works to address skyrocketing interest rates that are making housing less affordable.
“To strengthen the American economy, we also help more people buy homes. Homeownership is one of the most powerful engines of intergenerational prosperity,” Harris told voters Monday during a trip to Detroit, Michigan to promote their efforts.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks during the second stop of her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour in Detroit, Michigan
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks during the second stop of her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour in Detroit, Michigan
The money primarily funds grants to help state and local governments create more affordable housing and expand economic development financing.
Only about five percent of the funding includes funds that will have a direct impact on the homelessness problem, with $290 million for homeless shelters, street outreach, homelessness prevention and “rapid rehousing assistance.”
A bigger priority for the government is a $455 million grant to connect people with HIV/AIDS to housing options.
Only $30 million of the funding will be used to support transitional housing for people recovering from substance abuse.
Tents line the street of ‘The Zone,’ a homeless encampment, Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in Phoenix.
Homeless people in Washington, DC Homeless people are camping in public spaces in the nation’s capital.
Harris indicated the funding would be enough to help more Americans afford a home.
“This funding will build more affordable homes and support renters and homeowners, while also lowering costs, building wealth and creating jobs,” Harris said in a statement.
Biden and Harris continue to grapple with bad headlines on homeownership as the average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 7.17 percent on Thursday, according to Freddie Mac.
Biden established a $400 per month tax break for homeowners during his State of the Union address and called on Congress to pass his plan to finance and build 2 million affordable homes to help with the costs of rent and housing to lower.
He also proposed a plan that would give new homebuyers $5,000 in credit each year for the first two years of owning a home.
Harris indicated that the Biden administration would do more to lower the cost of housing if re-elected for a second term.
“There’s still more work to be done,” Harris said in an interview with a local news station in Wisconsin. “Including what we plan to do, you know, God willing in the next term, including affordable housing and making housing more affordable.”