Schatz: Hawai‘i Receiving $2.4 Million To Support Affordable Housing, Keep Thousands Of Families In Their Homes
HONOLULU – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that Hawai‘i will receive $2,394,556 in new federal funding to preserve the housing choice voucher program (section 8 housing) for Hawai‘i families during the coronavirus pandemic. The funding will help Hawai‘i’s public housing authorities maintain normal operations and offset increases in housing voucher costs from lost or reduced wages of voucher holders due to the coronavirus that could otherwise lead to terminating rental assistance.
“No family should lose their home during the pandemic,” said Senator Schatz. “This funding will help ensure that public housing authorities have the resources to maintain housing support for our most vulnerable communities.”
Approximately 13,000 households are assisted by section 8 housing in Hawai‘i. Currently, voucher holders have to pay 30 percent of their income towards rent, and the voucher pays the difference. If tenants lose their job or their income is reduced significantly amid the coronavirus pandemic, this new funding will pay the difference.
The funding is part of the $1.25 billion allocated for the Housing and Urban Development's Tenant-Based Rental Assistance program in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The amount administered to each public housing authority is below:
- County of Hawai‘i: $430,906
- City and County of Honolulu: $899,976
- County of Maui: $340,142
- Kauai County Housing Agency: $163,402
- Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority: $560,130
More information on federal support for Hawai‘i homeowners and renters can be found on Senator Schatz’s online resource guide: schatz.senate.gov/coronavirus/renters-homeowners.
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