ProJo: R.I. Senator Reed recognized for affordable housing efforts

Rhode Island's housing leaders met in Providence Thursday afternoon to honor the efforts of their “housing champion,” U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, for his leading role in the creation of the National Housing Trust Fund.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Although future federal support for housing remains under threat, Rhode Island's housing leaders met in Silver Lake Thursday afternoon to honor the efforts of their “housing champion,” U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, for his leading role in the creation of the National Housing Trust Fund.

The fund uses contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to finance the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing for low-income and homeless families. It was authorized by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which led to the government's conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the foreclosure crisis, but it did not receive funding until years later.

In May 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that Rhode Island would receive $3 million in HUD's first-ever allocations from the National Housing Trust Fund, which would distribute a total of $174 million annually. Reed, who was instrumental in ensuring that each state would be allocated a minimum of $3 million, said Thursday that Rhode Island would be getting another $3 million in the latest distribution.

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