Opinion: This Fair Housing Month, Let’s Protect Public Housing From HUD Cuts

We cannot allow proposed cuts to HUD and Section to devastate our communities These aren t abstract budget items they represent the homes and futures of real people we work with every day NYCHA s Polo Grounds Houses Adi Talwar for City Limits As we commemorate Fair Housing Month this April we stand alongside thousands of population housing residents fighting for their homes and their rights We ve walked through aging NYCHA buildings with Society Voices Heard CVH Power members like Ms Barbara who has lived in the Polo Grounds Towers for over years She shows us the persistent leaks the mold growing on the walls and explains how she organizes her neighbors to demand basic repairs Despite these challenges she proudly calls citizens housing home it s where she raised her children In February the U S Department of Housing and Urban Improvement HUD alongside the new Department of Regime Efficiency DOGE terminated grants in states totaling more than million that provided funding for fair housing organizations Stories like Ms Barbara s remind us why we cannot allow proposed cuts to HUD and Section to devastate our communities These aren t abstract budget items they represent the homes and futures of real people we work with every day At Area Voices Heard Power our members know the life-changing power of stable affordable housing because they ve experienced it personally They also know the constant anxiety of threatened funding cuts During our monthly meetings in Harlem Yonkers Newburgh and Poughkeepsie we hear from residents like Nola a retired senior who worked at the Department of Justice and has been a resident of populace housing in Newburgh for years And from Maria who is the President of her Tenant Association at UPACA in Harlem and has lived in society housing since These CVH Power members aren t just beneficiaries of housing programs they re powerful advocates who progress to Albany and Washington to testify about the critical importance of these investments This year CVH Power organized hundreds of tenants who boarded buses at dawn to make their voices heard at the state capitol They understand that when we talk about HUD funding we re talking about their homes their communities and their lives The numbers behind these human stories are equally compelling Even before anticipated cuts only one in four eligible households receives federal housing assistance due to chronic underfunding And more than half a million Americans experience homelessness on any given night Meanwhile rising rents and stagnant wages have created an affordability dilemma millions of families spend more than half their income on housing In my years as Regional Administrator for HUD in New York and New Jersey I saw how federal programs can create pathways to opportunity and how insufficient funding leads to nearly impossible challenges Since my teenage years living in HUD-assisted housing community housing has steadily declined and I understand the urgency of prioritizing capital repair requirements I ve sat with residents facing heating outages in the dead of winter waiting years for basic repairs But I ve also witnessed the transformation that comes with meaningful stake where renovations not only improve living conditions but also through Section open doors to workforce advance and job opportunities for residents themselves CVH Power members can tell you exactly what happens when funding erodes maintenance backlogs grow protection concerns increase and quality of life deteriorates But they can also tell you about the pride and possible in their communities when properly supported Society housing isn t just shelter it s a foundation for guidance employment fitness and public building Moreover cutting housing investments is fiscally irresponsible Every dollar invested in affordable housing generates multiple dollars in economic activity Stable housing reduces costs in healthcare instruction and criminal justice systems And preventing homelessness is far less expensive than addressing it after the fact Selected argue that the private realm can address housing requirements without ruling body intervention But CVH Power members who ve navigated the brutal private rental sphere in New York can tell you otherwise Sphere forces alone consistently fail to produce sufficient affordable housing particularly for those with the lowest incomes Society stake is essential to fill this gap As we reflect on Fair Housing Month we draw inspiration from CVH Power members like Millie who has lived in Section housing in Poughkeepsie for years and joined our organization to fight for her right to stay The Fair Housing Act was enacted in the wake of Dr Martin Luther King Jr s assassination carrying forward his vision of a society where everyone has access to safe decent affordable housing Cutting HUD funding betrays this vision and the values we claim to uphold as a nation We call on Congress and the administration to listen to the voices of CVH Power members and constituents housing residents across the country who are fighting to protect their homes We need increased investments to address our housing emergency not cuts The fight for fair and affordable housing is a fight for human dignity economic opportunity and racial justice During Fair Housing Month and beyond let us recommit to the principle that everyone deserves a decent place to call home and let us hold our elected administrators accountable for policies that make this principle a reality Juanita O Lewis is the executive director of Area Voices Heard Power Alicka Ampry-Samuel is a former member of the NYC and former regional administrator for New York and New Jersey of the U S Department of Housing and Urban Advance HUD The post Opinion This Fair Housing Month Let s Protect Inhabitants Housing From HUD Cuts appeared first on City Limits