Membership Messages

Fahe Advocacy Update: T-HUD appropriations bill update; Fahe travels to DC for legislative advocacy; Study published on connections between food and housing security

The Latest

  • Fahe advocacy trip to Washington D.C.
  • T-HUD appropriations bill to be caught up in coming battles over federal budget
  • Fair Housing Improvement Act could provide additional protections to low-income and veteran renters

Longer Term

  • Study released on the connections between housing and nutritional security

 

The Latest

If Fahe Members are attending HAC or NRHC the first week of December and want to visit elected representatives on the Hill alongside Fahe Advocacy, please reach out. Fahe Advocacy can schedule the visits, so we can be coordinated.

As Congress reconvenes, we are likely to see movement on the FY 19 T-HUD appropriations bill. However, with a divided government, the possibility remains that housing funding will be caught up in a broader budgetary fight. Fahe encourages Members to contact their Representatives and make sure they vote to fund the necessary work of Member organizations across Appalachia.

Senators Orin Hatch (R-UT) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) have introduced the Fair Housing Improvement Act to increase protections for low-income and veteran families. Only 1 out of every 3 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) are protected on the basis of income. For veterans and low-income families, this bill provides the protection needed to move people and communities towards stability.

 

Longer Term

A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Research on Children has found that families receiving nutritional assistance, such as SNAP, coupled with housing subsidies are 72% more likely to be housing secure than families receiving housing subsidy alone. These types of investments are in the essentials people need, and provide the foundation upon which stable, prosperous communities are built.