$105 Million For Affordable Housing In CA

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that the California State Program will receive more than $105 million to support community development and produce more affordable housing in the GoldenState. HUD's annual funding will also provide downpayment assistance to first-time homebuyers; assist individuals and families who might otherwise be living on the streets; and offer real housing solutions for individuals with HIV/AIDS.

"This funding will help the state of California to rebuild its neighborhoods and affordable housing stock," said Preston. "By helping communities to improve their infrastructure or assisting families to purchase their first home, HUD is helping improve neighborhoods from the ground up."

"Increasing homeownership and reinvigorating neighborhoods is one of the most powerful things we can do to improve our economy and our communities. This federal funding will help to do exactly that in California and will be administered by our Department of Housing and Community Development to also make vital infrastructure improvements and provide assistance to those are most in need," said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "This important funding will work in partnership with our Proposition 1C, which the voters of California approved in order to improve housing infrastructure in our state."

Since 1974, HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program has provided more than $120 billion to state and local governments to target their own community development priorities. In addition to the annual block grant funding announced today, nearly $20 billion in supplemental CDBG funding is currently supporting the State of Louisiana's long-term disaster recovery programs following Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma. The rehabilitation of affordable housing and the improvement of public facilities have traditionally been the largest uses of CDBG although the program is also an important catalyst for job growth and business opportunities. Annual CDBG funds are distributed to communities according to a statutory formula based on a community's population, poverty, and age of its housing stock, and extent of overcrowded housing.