WASHINGTON - May 13 -  In a dramatic show of grassroots support for the National Housing Trust Fund, more than 2,225 organizations representing every Congressional district in the country are sending a letter this week to every U.S. Senator and Representative urging immediate funding for the National Housing Trust Fund. The NHTF campaign knows of no other Congressional letter that has received support from organizations all 435 Congressional districts, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. 

The letter calls on Members of Congress  to provide $1 billion to capitalize the NHTF and $65 million for project-based vouchers to support NHTF homes. Legislation to fund the NHTF could be considered before the Memorial Day recess. 

The National Housing Trust Fund was created as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, but has not yet been capitalized.  Once funded, the NHTF will support the production, preservation, and operation of rental homes for the lowest income people in the United States. The NHTF is the first federal rental housing production program that is specifically targeted to extremely low income households since the Section 8 program was established in 1974.

The letter in support of funding for the National Housing Trust Fund is below. A complete list of all organizational signers is available at www.nhtf.org.

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We, the undersigned organizations, urge Congress to act soon to provide the initial funding for the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF). We are requesting $1.065 billion be provided immediately to the NHTF: $1 billion to capitalize the NHTF and $65 million for project-based vouchers to couple with NHTF capital grants.

The NHTF was created in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) to address the severe shortage of rental homes that are affordable for the lowest income families, but it has not yet been funded. The President proposed funding for the NHTF in his FY10 and FY11 budget requests.

In the United States today, there are only 37 rental homes available and affordable for every 100 households with incomes below 30% of their area median. A scarcity of housing that the poorest families can afford is the principal cause of homelessness in the United States.

Investment in the NHTF will create good jobs. Every $1 billion provided to the Trust Fund will support the immediate construction of 10,000 rental homes, creating 15,100 new construction jobs and 3,800 new jobs in ongoing operations.

We urge Congress to provide this badly needed funding at the soonest possible opportunity.