HUD Awards $85.7 Million in Housing Assistance

Some 4,380 vouchers will help bring families together or prevent the breakup of families who cannot afford adequatehousing. People with disabilities will receive the remaining 4,120 vouchers.The vouchers enable recipients to get apartments by paying generally no more than 30 percent of their income asrent; HUD pays the remainder.Cuomo said $61.1 million of the funding goes to the Mainstream Program, which helps very low-income people withdisabilities obtain affordable private housing. The remaining $24.6 million is for the Family Unification Program,which provides vouchers to keep low-income families together. These families have children who have been or areabout to be put into foster care by local social service agencies because of inadequate housing. These families areoften involve single mothers who are homeless, battered women who have fled their homes to escape violence, andfamilies living in housing unfit for children to occupy.