Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority competed against public housing authorities across the country to be awarded $491,285.00 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Mainstream Voucher Program Fiscal Year 2019 Notice of Funding Availability.
The award letter, dated November 14, 2019, indicates the award gives RRHA the ability to award 60 vouchers to qualifying nonelderly residents with disabilities. HUD made up to $150 million available in housing assistance payments for approximately 18,000 vouchers nationally.
RRHA CEO, Damon E. Duncan said, “RRHA is very excited about the opportunity to serve a population who is in dire need of voucher assistance. We understand that HUD is aggressively moving toward a voucher subsidy framework and this award helps us to better serve residents with disabilities within our jurisdiction.”
Mainstream Vouchers are designed to assist non-elderly persons with disabilities. These special vouchers follow the same program policies as the conventional tenant-based program. The RRHA award is an annual award that serves new admissions pulled from the existing RRHA waiting list.
The goal of the Mainstream Voucher Program is to encourage partnerships between the Authority and health and human service agencies while promoting voluntary supportive services to increase program access among persons with disabilities.
“I am extremely proud of the hard work our Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) department has consistently demonstrated.” Earlier this year, the RRHA HCV program was deemed a “High Performer” under HUD’s Section Eight Management Assessment Program (SEMAP), an annual review administered by HUD,” said Duncan.