Proposals supporting programs preserving existing assisted and public housing, producing of new affordable units, and making more vouchers available to poor families should be at the top of the Congressional agenda. In this time of economic prosperity, there is no better time than now to invest in those who have not yet experienced the rewards of our great national wealth. All of our experience shows that safe, decent, and affordable housing is the key to family well-being, educational success, and productive work, writes Andrew Cuomo, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in Out of Reach s Preface. Housing assistance helps parents provide better nutrition and health care for their children, writes Cuomo. It is the key to helping elderly people remain secure in their homes, to helping families remain in stable housing so that their children can learn in school, and to freeing up income so that workers can afford a car to travel to a better job.
Housing assistance makes sense.
It is good public policy. FMRs are used for the Section 8 rental housing certificate and voucher programs. By using FMRs, Out of Reach is able to analyze the relationship between housing costs and incomes in every jurisdiction, as the FMRs are the only estimate of housing costs that are uniform across the nation. Local contacts are available in major cities around the nation for comments on the report and on affordable housing issues. Back to Out of Reach Table of Contents .