The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced this week that it is allocating $112 million to expand the supply of permanent affordable housing to low-income people with disabilities. Funding is available through the Section 811 program.

About half of the new funding will go toward the development of new supportive housing for people with disabilities. About $37 million also will go toward rental assistance, which will be available through eligible housing agencies.

“Very simply, we need more permanent supportive housing to assist people living with disabilities,” says HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “The funding will support existing developments and, for the first time in nearly a decade, help to produce new affordable housing at a time we need it the most.”

Federal Housing Commissioner Brian Montgomery said the agency is seeking to fund “innovative and efficient” housing that combine form and function with the appropriate supportive service this population needs. “Our goal is to support affordable housing developments that allow persons with disabilities to live as independently as possible in their own communities,” he says.

Section 811 Capital Advances

HUD is offering up to $75 million in capital advance funding to eligible nonprofit organizations to fund innovative permanent supportive housing models that will be at the forefront of design, service delivery, and efficient use of federal resources. Applicants are encouraged to establish formal partnerships with health and human service agencies or other organizations with a demonstrated capacity to coordinate voluntary services and supports for persons with disabilities to enable them to live independently in the community.

To encourage development within Opportunity Zones, HUD will award two preference points to applicants seeking to construct or rehabilitate developments in qualified Opportunity Zone census tracts. Read HUD’s Section 811 Capital Advance funding notice for more information.

This article is from a media release from HUD.GOV