WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development will receive $3,140,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Trust Fund (HTF). The funding is aimed at preserving the supply of low-income housing and increasing homeownership for low-income families across Virginia.

“We’re pleased that families across the Commonwealth will continue to have access to affordable housing. A home is part of your identity and today’s funding will create a strong foundation for communities in Virginia,” the Senators said.

Congress authorized the Housing Trust Fund in 2008 with the stated purpose of increasing and preserving the supply of rental housing for extremely low-income families with incomes between 0 and 30 percent of area median income and very low-income families with incomes between 30 and 50 percent of area median income, including homeless families, as well as  increasing homeownership for extremely low-income and very low-income families. Kaine, a former fair housing attorney, requested increased funding last year for the HTF in a letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.

Both Senators have urged increased funding for programs that assist communities in improving housing and living conditions, such as the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program, which has invested more than $149 billion in communities nationwide over the last 40 years. 

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