Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson (Photo/Karen Stokes)
By Karen Stokes
On Wednesday, Vice President Harris announced the recipients of new grants under the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) grant competition. The goal of the program is building more housing, and lowering housing and rental costs for American families.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) created PRO Housing, a first-of-its-kind program that provides funding to communities actively addressing barriers to building new units. Funding will support updates to state and local housing plans, land use policies, permitting processes, and other actions aimed at building and preserving more affordable housing.
The demand for these awards was substantial, with requests exceeding $13 for every $1 available. Applications came from more than 175 communities across 47 states and territories, representing diverse demographics and geographic settings. The Biden-Harris Administration will also release an additional $100 million in PRO Housing funding later this summer.
HUD is awarding $85 million in funding through PRO Housing to 21 winners. The winners include jurisdictions ranging from under 5,000 residents in a rural community to millions of people across an urban county. In addition to the grant funding, winners will be invited to participate in a technical assistance cohort to facilitate peer learning and implementation support.
Milwaukee has secured a $2.1million grant.
“Milwaukee was very fortunate to have received these dollars. We’re going to make sure that we make an investment in affordable housing and build new housing here in the city of Milwaukee for folks who need it,” Mayor Johnson said in an interview on WJMR-FM.
Recognizing that every community is different, the grants announced are critical to breaking down local barriers that stand in the way of housing development and lower costs. Common barriers to housing identified in the PRO Housing applications include the high cost of land and development, underutilized vacant land and property, aging housing stock, inadequate infrastructure, displacement pressures, risks of extreme weather or environment hazards, and outdated land-use and permitting policies and processes.
Stephen Benjamin, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement (Photo/University of South Carolina)
Stephen Benjamin, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Senior Advisor for the Biden administration said, “I started as the Mayor of Columbia, South Carolina for 12 years and we understand our communities better than DC can at times, it’s really about having the resources and realize that the rents are too high. The needs of the respective cities may be different from Milwaukee or Oregon or Denver, so it’s going to look closer to local leaders and make sure the people in Milwaukee’s needs are being met in a way that is unique to Wisconsin.”
This announcement fulfills a commitment made in the Administration’s Housing Supply Action Plan and builds on sweeping actions to reduce barriers, boost housing supply, and lower costs.
“President Biden and I believe that every American deserves affordable housing so they have a roof over their head and a place to call home. That is why we have a plan to build millions of new units of affordable housing in communities all across our nation, which will bring down the cost of housing for renters and help more Americans buy a home,” said Vice President Harris. “I am proud to announce that we are taking a critical step forward by investing $85 million to help more than 20 communities throughout our country remove barriers to building more affordable housing.”