Press Room

In a presentation that covered everything from increases in Section 8 vouchers and supportive housing dollars to increases in research and coordinated policy efforts, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan impressed more than 200 housing advocates and policy experts Monday morning at Capital Community College in Hartford.

Donovan addressed the forum at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-CT, chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Dodd, a leader in the fight for the national Housing Trust Fund, tax credits and other key reforms to make housing more affordable, told the huge crowd that Donovan was a “breath of fresh air” after HUD’s less strenuous efforts at reform under the Bush administration. Donovan said he would embrace the “geography of opportunity” presented by a multi-faceted housing policy, promising to:

• Marry housing policy with education and transportation policy in a “holistic: approach.
• Increase spending on supportive housing, which he said is “actually close to free” when weighed against the cost of prison, shelters, emergency room care and other costly alternatives.
• Increases in Sect. 8 vouchers and funds for research to uncover effective housing efforts. An enhanced effort to provide housing alternatives so elderly residents can stay out of nursing homes.
• Coordinate legal services with mediation to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.
• Widen family self-sufficiency programs so those in public housing can afford to stay while also saving money to help with down payments.
• A continued effort to help low- and moderate-income Americans purchase homes – “they can be successful with the right mortgage programs” – but also a wider effort to help states such as Connecticut increase their supply of multifamily housing.

An article in the Hartford Courant describes the foreclosure-related comments made by Secretary Donovan.