NAHRO CEO Responds to WSJ Editorial on Low-Income Housing
August 21, 2020
Dear Sir/Madam:
In “We’ll Protect America’s Suburbs,” the President and HUD Secretary Ben Carson pledged to “protect” the suburbs from low-income housing. Access to “low-income housing,” which is housing affordable to families of modest means, no matter their race, is too critical a national need to become politicized. Affordable, quality housing helps all Americans – no matter where they live. Rental assistance programs are not limited to big cities – half of the households who benefit from these HUD programs live in suburban or rural areas; in 2017, there were more than 2.1 million of them. And even that number doesn’t come close to helping the number of people who need a safe, stable place to call home – only 1 in 5 of those eligible for rental assistance receive it.
Affordable housing also comes in all forms – from traditional towers to modern mixed-income communities, from multifamily buildings to single-family homes indistinguishable from their market-rate counterparts. Affordable housing allows our seniors to age in place; our teachers, our police and our firefighters to live and work in the communities they serve; and our children to live and learn in neighborhoods of opportunity.
We need to welcome affordable housing – not push it away. When we are able to ensure that everyone lives in safe, decent, affordable homes in thriving communities, our entire country benefits.
Sincerely,
Adrianne Todman
NAHRO CEO