04/25/24 Mayor Blangiardi traveling to Washington, D.C. to advocate for more funding for housing programs

Mayor Blangiardi traveling to Washington, D.C. to advocate for more funding for housing programs

HONOLULU - Mayor Rick Blangiardi on Thursday announced that he will be traveling to Washington, D.C., on Friday to meet with officials from the Biden Administration to advocate for more funding for housing programs and federal assistance with homelessness across the City and County of Honolulu. Mayor Blangiardi will also be meeting with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who serves as the Chair of the Homelessness Task Force on the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

As part of his trip, Mayor Blangiardi will specifically advocate for additional funding for the City's Housing Choice Voucher Program, also known as Section 8. The federally funded Housing Choice Voucher Program provides rental subsidies to be paid directly to landlords on behalf of income-eligible families. The vouchers allow a tenant to pay only around 30% of their household income towards rent.

The mayor will also be exploring and advocating for a voucher relief program designed for individuals who received assistance through the City's Rent and Utility Relief Program (RURP), which has been an invaluable tool in preventing homelessness by providing financial assistance for rent and utility bills that helped keep people safely housed. The program provided payments to approximately 15,000 landlords to help keep their low-income renters housed during the past three years, supporting more than 22,000 households.

"Preventing local families from ever experiencing homelessness is just as important as assisting those who are already on the street," said Mayor Rick Blangiardi. "Too many people in our communities are living paycheck to paycheck, finding themselves just one rainy day away from housing insecurity. The Housing Choice Voucher program job at helping local families remain in their homes, and it deserves our full support."

At current funding levels, the city is able to assist 3,980 households with vouchers from the federal government, and the Housing Choice Voucher Program the largest voucher program in the state. The target is to be able to assist as many 6,000 households each year, including the introduction of project based vouchers to increase the supply of affordable housing on the island.

"Honolulu is consistently rated among the most expensive places to live in the United States," said Department of Community Services Director Anton Krucky. "We must do everything we can to make it possible for our residents to continue to be able to live in the place where they grew up. Our city needs their invaluable contributions, and we cannot afford to lose them to other cities with a lower cost of living. With federal assistance we look to continue to grow this program."

The City and County of Honolulu has seen incredible success with creative use of Housing Choice Vouchers. In 2021, the O'ahu Housing Now initiative provided short-term rental assistance and supportive services to assist people in obtaining housing quickly, increasing self-sufficiency, and maintain housing. Through this effort, 312 families consisting of 829 individuals received housing, and 97% of them remained housed after exiting the program, using other support programs.

Mayor Blangiardi departs Honolulu on Friday and returns on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Managing Director Michael Formby will serve as acting mayor while Mayor Blangiardi is out of the state.

-PAU-