On April 6, Senator Robert Menendez sent a letter in support of strong funding for HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program to Senate Appropriations Committee leadership. The letter garnered sign-ons from 41 Senators, the most ever to join this annual letter.

“We respectfully request: full funding for contract renewals for the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program and an additional $600 million for capital advances and operating subsidies for new 202 homes to keep up with existing and increasing need,” the letter says. “Section 202 provides a sensible and necessary approach to meeting our nation’s growing affordable housing needs for seniors, and it is the only federally funded program expressly aimed at doing so. As HUD’s most recent Worst Case Housing Needs Report finds, 2.24 million very low-income elderly households are paying more than 50 percent of their income in rent, an increase of 68% since 2009.”

LeadingAge advocates urged every Senate office to join the letter and are grateful for Senator Menendez’s continued leadership in support of the Section 202 program.

Follow the updates like this in the serial post: Impact on HUD in President’s Budget.