Housing Authority awarded over $1 million

The Long Beach Housing Authority was awarded $1,046,784 in funding by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last Friday. Long Beach joined nearly 2,770 other public housing authorities to get funding.

Public housing authorities in all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, received money to make capital investments to their public housing stock. Money was given to both large and small communities, urban and rural, and is dedicated to the residents to make sure they have adequate and secure housing.

A total of $3.16 billion was funding across all the housing authorities, with just over $800 million going to 39 in New York.

“As I have traveled the country, I’ve heard time and again from families and seniors in public housing that a decent home in a safe community shouldn’t be too much to ask for,” Marcia L. Fudge, department secretary, said in a release. “With this investment, we are committing to work with our public housing authority partners to guarantee homes in public housing are worthy of the families and individuals who live there.”

The grants are provided through the department’s Capital Fund Program, which offers money annually to all public housing authorities to build and modernize the housing in their communities. Housing authorities can use the money to finish larger-scale improvements — such as replacing roofs or making upgrades to heating systems or installing water conservation measures.

The department’s “capital funding for public housing authorities is a lifeline that provides resources for necessary maintenance and repairs so that residents’ homes are safe,” said Alicia Ampry-Samuel, the department’s regional administrator for New York and New Jersey. “Public housing authorities count on this funding to make repairs and ensure the preservation of subsidized housing for the families that need it most.”

The federal government has been investing billions of dollars for over 80 years in developing and maintaining public housing, including providing support through the grants last week.