WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, Congressmen Elijah Cummings, Dutch Ruppersberger and John Sarbanes (All D-Md.) have announced more than $1 million in affordable housing grants for Baltimore City and the region, including: $322,500 for the Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore, Inc.; $227,500 for the St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center; and $572,000 for AHC Inc.. Funded through NeighborWorks America, the grants will support efforts to develop and preserve affordable housing, revitalize and sustain neighborhoods and create jobs in Maryland and the region. Team Maryland fought to secure significant funding for the program in FY 2019 Appropriations, despite President Trump zeroing out the NeighborWorks program in his budget.
“These funds represent a critical federal investment in Baltimore housing, particularly in our efforts to keep our neighborhoods affordable,” said Senator Cardin, a member of the Senate Finance Committee. “Every Marylander – every American – deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. On behalf of our working families, I will make sure affordable housing remains a top priority moving forward.”
“Access to affordable housing is crucial for working families trying to make ends meet,” said Senator Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Development and Appropriations Committees whose bipartisan legislation to expand choice and mobility in housing vouchers was recently signed into law. “This funding will not only provide more affordable housing options in the area, but will also spur economic development and create jobs. I will continue fighting in Congress to invest in affordable housing and economic opportunity for all Marylanders.”
“These federal funds will be a vital component in our fight to help keep Baltimore livable for all residents,” said Congressman Cummings. “Access to affordable housing is crucial in helping working families get by, and this federal funding will not only help make Baltimore affordable for all residents, but it will also create jobs and development in our communities.”
“We must continue to combat the root causes of problems facing our communities – like homelessness – that create other challenges, like crime and substance abuse,” Congressman Ruppersberger said. “These grants do just that, not only providing more Maryland families with a secure roof over their heads, but helping to build stronger communities. It’s an investment that will generate more tax revenue to support road improvements, better schools and public facilities like hospitals and police stations.”
“To improve economic and educational outcomes for families in Maryland and across America, we must expand access to affordable housing,” said Congressman Sarbanes. “This new federal investment in Baltimore will help provide more affordable housing options to city residents and play an important role in revitalizing our communities. My colleagues and I in the Baltimore Congressional Delegation will continue working to identify and deliver these kinds of impactful and sustainable federal investments for our city.”
Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Baltimore started as a consortium of local residents, community groups, foundations, business leaders, and local government coming together to address the decline of Southeast Baltimore neighborhoods. It found success by focusing on rehabilitation lending and homeownership promotion and revitalization, leading to its spread to other neighborhoods. NHS provides educational and financial counseling, foreclosure prevention programs, and locally specialized housing plans to help hundreds of Baltimore residents achieve homeownership each year.
St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center provides comprehensive housing services and quality affordable homes to meet the challenges of homeowners, renters, and neighborhoods in Baltimore City and the surrounding area. As Baltimore’s oldest non-profit housing provider, it has served over 125,000 families since 1968. Each year, it supports 3,000 low and moderate income families to buy their first home, move from shelters to permanent housing, obtain an affordable and quality rental, or avoid loss of homeownership.
AHC Inc. Over the years, AHC has developed 50 properties providing more than 6,500 affordable, workforce and market-rate homes in northern Virginia and Baltimore. Its subsidiary, AHC Greater Baltimore opened in 2004 to address the need for more affordable housing in the Baltimore region. Since then, AHC Greater Baltimore has developed eight properties with more than 1,200 affordable apartments.
NeighborWorks America is a public nonprofit organization, established by Congress in 1978 as the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. It supports and enhances a network of nearly 250 local and regional nonprofit partner NeighborWorks organizations that bring together residents, private-sector business leaders, and representatives of local government to create communities of opportunity. In FY 2018, NeighborWorks America and the NeighborWorks network provided over 457,000 housing and counseling services, including 25,100 homeowners created and 13,200 quality, affordable rental homes developed.
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