HAC News Formats. pdf

July 23, 2020
Vol. 49, No. 15

Eviction protections expiring, lawmakers negotiating.

The Trump Administration and House and Senate leaders are negotiating the next coronavirus relief package, but it is not yet clear what types of aid it will provide, how much or when. HAC spearheaded a sign-on letter from over 100 rural housing stakeholders urging congressional leaders to provide targeted funding for rural communities. Among the reasons for urgency is the imminent expiration of eviction protections while large numbers of low-income tenants are still unemployed or working reduced hours and federal assistance that helped cover housing costs is ending. The CARES Act protects tenants in federally assisted housing from eviction through August 23 (July 24 is the last day of the moratorium and then property owners must give tenants at least 30 days’ notice) and an array of state and local moratoriums have protected some additional tenants for varying amounts of time. One estimate is that 19-23 million people – one in every five people who live in renter households – in the U.S. are at risk of eviction by September. Undocumented people, low-income people, and people of color are the most vulnerable.

USDA and HUD provide new guidance for rental housing as eviction protections end.

Updates to USDA RD’s FAQs for multifamily property owners and managers, HUD Notice H 20-07 and a HUD brochure titled Promoting Housing Stability During the Covid-19 National Emergency: Information for Multifamily Property Owners and Management Agents all address the status of tenant protections as the CARES eviction moratorium expires. A National Housing Law Project analysis compares USDA’s provisions to those of HUD Notice H 20-07.

Administration moving forward to eliminate fair housing processes and transgender shelter protections.

HUD will announce a new Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule on July 23, according to Politico, which reports the department will “essentially rely … on local governments to self-certify that they are ‘furthering fair housing.’” The regulation will not be the one proposed in January and will be issued in final form with no further opportunity for public comment, the article states. A separate proposal to remove current protections for transgender individuals in HUD-supported facilities, such as single-sex shelters or shelters with separate facilities based on sex, will be published in the Federal Register on July 24 with a 60-day comment period. That rule change would allow shelter operators to decide whether to rely on gender assigned at birth or gender identity.

House continues work on FY21 funding for USDA and HUD.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to begin consideration on July 23 of a “minibus” (H.R. 7608) that combines four funding bills for the fiscal year that begins October 1, including USDA (H.R. 7610), State, Interior and Veterans Affairs. The Transportation-HUD bill, H.R. 7616, was approved by the House Appropriations Committee on July 14 and is expected to be part of a second minibus that will be taken up in the House during the week of July 27. The Senate has not yet begun considering appropriations legislation.

USDA requests input on new program for rural job accelerators.

The 2018 Farm Bill authorized a new Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) program that will make grants to rural job accelerator partnerships to help distressed rural communities create high-wage jobs, accelerate the formation of new businesses and identify and maximize local assets. Public input on the program can be provided in writing or at online listening sessions on July 28 and July 30. For more information, contact Will Dodson, RBCS, 202-762-0592.

RuralSTAT: 456 rural counties do not have a Medicare-registered hospital. Source: Housing Assistance Council tabulation of data from the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services list of registered hospitals.

Main Street Lending program expands to nonprofits and aids tribal governments.

On July 23 the Federal Reserve expanded its Main Street Lending Program to provide greater access to nonprofit organizations. The program supports lending to small businesses to ensure access to capital during the coronavirus pandemic. In a less publicized change, on July 15 the Fed modified the program’s FAQs to allow tribal enterprises to provide capital distributions to their tribal government owners while participating in the program. They still cannot pay dividends or make distributions to other owners such as individuals. The waiver is important because tribal businesses are owned by tribal governments and distribute some of their income to tribal governments to pay for services to the tribe.

HAC seeks photographers to document U.S. rural housing and development.

With support from the National Endowment for the Arts and honoring the legacy of photographer George Ballis (1925-2010) and his deep ties to rural housing and community development, HAC seeks photographers for an upcoming exhibition, “There Is More Work To Be Done.” Selected photographers will be offered a stipend to document the impact of rural housing and rural community development programs in areas across the country and the work that still needs to be done. Applications are due August 14. For more information, visit HAC’s website or email ballisphoto@ruralhome.org.

Manufactured homes covered in HAC’s newest Rural Research Brief.

Manufactured homes are an often overlooked and maligned component of our nation’s housing stock, but these homes are an important source of housing for millions of Americans, especially those with low incomes and in rural areas. A HAC Rural Research Brief presents data on these homes, their residents and the system through which they are sold, financed and managed.

No change in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac housing goals proposed for 2021.

Because of the economic disruption resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is proposing to keep the benchmarks for Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s affordable housing goals the same in 2021 as in 2018-2020. Comments will be due 60 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register. For more information, contact Ted Wartell, FHFA, 202-649-3157.

Housing costs were already out of reach before the pandemic.

The latest edition of the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual Out of Reach study compares minimum wages to housing wages – the amount needed to afford the HUD-determined Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartment. In no state can a person working full-time at the federal minimum wage afford a two-bedroom apartment at FMR. In only 145 of the more than 3,000 U.S. counties can a full-time worker earning the minimum wage afford a one-bedroom rental home at FMR. Data for all states and counties are available from the interactive map posted at https://reports.nlihc.org/oor.

Housing an Aging Rural America.

HAC’s just-published summer 2020 issue of Rural Voices magazine covers the unique challenges – and opportunities – presented by housing for rural seniors. The coronavirus pandemic has also heightened the concern for older and potentially more vulnerable residents, who disproportionally reside in rural America, and makes this conversation more immediate.

Retirements lead to staff changes at USDA RD.

Roger Glendenning, Deputy Administrator of Single Family Housing, is retiring on July 31. Cathy Glover, who has most recently run the Section 502 guarantee program, has been selected to succeed Glendenning. Barry Ramsey, formerly the Director of the Single Family Housing Direct Loan Division and currently the Assistant to the Deputy Administrator, is also retiring on July 31. Brooke Baumann is now the Director of the SFH Direct Loan Division. 

Recent publications and media of interest

• Getting Ready to Reopen, Schools Brace for Epidemic’s Challenges, a Daily Yonder article, looks at the challenges for rural areas as the nation considers the beginning of the new school year.
• State and Local Rental Assistance Programs: Finding Solutions for a Growing Crisis, a research note from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, describes rental assistance programs created both before and in response to the coronavirus.
• Will Rural Homelessness Hit After Benefits and Eviction Moratoriums End?, a Daily Yonder story, focuses on the impact of unemployment and evictions in rural Kentucky.

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC’s loan funds provide low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development and construction/rehabilitation. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including tribes).

HAC News Formats. pdf

June 25, 2020
Vol. 49, No. 13

HAC 2020 National Rural Housing Conference postponed.

The decision to postpone the 2020 National Rural Housing Conference sets several pieces in motion, so HAC asks everyone for your patience while we work though the details. We continue to believe in the importance of gathering as a community to interact, share, inspire, celebrate and strengthen our work. We plan to provide opportunities to do so in 2021. We will share additional information, as it develops, on our website and in the HAC News.

 June is Pride Month.

Rural America is made up of a rich tapestry of people who call it home, including more than 3 million LGBTQ people. HAC believes that every person has a right to safe and affordable housing, no matter their orientation. We proudly celebrate Pride Month and stand by and fight for housing opportunities with the LGBTQ community.

House infrastructure bill includes housing, rural broadband and more.

H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, would authorize $1 billion for USDA’s MPR rental preservation program and $100 million for Section 504 home repair loans and grants. Native American housing would receive $1 billion, HOME $5 billion, the Housing Trust Fund $5 billion, CDBG $10 billion and the Public Housing Capital Fund $70 billion. The bill includes $2.5 billion each for Section 202, Section 811 rent assistance and the Capital Magnet Fund as well as $1 billion for flood mitigation grants. It would make several changes to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, including providing incentives for properties in rural and Native American areas. The Senate is not expected to vote on the bill, however.

Federal agencies extend eviction and foreclosure moratoria through August.

Homeowners with mortgages through the USDA Section 502 direct and 502 guaranteed programs, backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or insured by the Federal Housing Administration are now protected from foreclosure and eviction through August 31. Tenants in federally assisted housing have separate protection under the CARES Act, which prohibits evictions for non-payment of rent through July 24. ProPublica has developed a searchable database of covered rental properties (including those with direct or guaranteed USDA mortgages). Other eviction resources are compiled on HAC’s website.

Second “Rural Housing in the Time of COVID-19” conversation now available online.

The second livestream conversation in the “Rural Housing in the Time of COVID-19” series from the Rural Assembly and HAC focused on how government and philanthropy have responded to the pandemic and what more can be done. Panelists stressed the importance of government action as the needs of rural communities grow and the importance that those actions target aid at the most vulnerable people and places. The first conversation included perspectives from rural housing practitioners on the rural housing landscape before and during the coronavirus pandemic.

CFPB explains underserved counties determinations.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau produces an annual list of rural and underserved counties and areas that is used in applying some Truth in Lending Act provisions, such as the exemption from the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan. In the past, CFPB determined what counties met the rural and underserved criteria by using HMDA data that is no longer available. An interpretive rule explains how CFPB will now identify these areas. For more information, contact Waeiz Syed, CFPB, 202-435-7700 or submit a question online.

RuralSTAT: Nearly 75% of rural and small-town white, non-Hispanic households own their homes compared to only 55% of rural minority households. Source: HAC Tabulations of 2014-2018 American Community Survey Data. To access more data for your community visit HAC’s Rural Data Portal.  

Supreme Court victory for LGBTQ people could apply to Fair Housing Act as well.

The Bostock v. Clayton County employment law decision on June 15 effectively expanded workplace and other legal protections to LGBTQ people, concluding that discrimination against them constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex. Opinion writers in the Washington Post and other forums have suggested the decision’s logic should also apply to other laws that prohibit sex discrimination, including the Fair Housing Act.

Coronavirus education initiative for minority and rural communities to launch in July.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Morehouse School of Medicine announced on June 23 that Morehouse will work with community-based organizations to provide information to racial and ethnic minority, rural and socially vulnerable communities. The three-year project “will strengthen efforts to link communities to COVID-19 testing, healthcare and social services and to best share and implement effective response, recovery and resilience strategies.”

Recent publications and media of interest

• Predicted Surge Comes True: Eviction Filings Jump Over 40% in Milwaukee County and State, a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article, reports on the significant increase in evictions of renters (compared to the same period in 2019) after a statewide eviction ban expired on May 27.
• Q&A: When Small Towns March is a Daily Yonder interview with the organizer of a Black Lives Matter march in Hazard, KY.
• Why Rural America is Joining the Movement for Black Lives, a Pew Charitable Trusts article, looks at the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement in rural America.

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC’s loan funds provide low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development and construction/rehabilitation. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at  hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including tribes).

HAC News Formats. pdf

May 28, 2020
Vol. 49, No. 11

House passes another coronavirus relief bill.
On May 15 the House approved H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, which proposes substantial new housing assistance. The Senate is expected to work on a separate relief bill in June.

Agencies extend foreclosure moratoria and mortgage forbearance options.
In March a number of federal agencies imposed temporary bans on foreclosure for federally assisted homeowners and on evictions of both owners and renters in properties with federal aid. Some borrowers were also eligible to delay their mortgage payments. The agencies have now announced extensions through June 30, some including additional waivers or other provisions. The extensions cover mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as those made under USDA’s Section 502 direct program,* USDA’s Section 502 guarantee program, USDA’s Section 538 multifamily mortgage guarantee program, HUD’s Section 184 and 184A Native American and Native Hawaiian loan guarantee programs, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ loan guarantee program,and the Federal Housing Administration’s single-family loan guarantee program. ProPublica has developed a searchable database of rental properties covered by the CARES Act’s eviction ban (including those with direct or guaranteed USDA mortgages), which protects many tenants until late August. Other eviction resources are compiled on HAC’s website.

USDA offers coronavirus-related business and industry loan guarantees.
USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service will guarantee almost $1 billion in loans to businesses in places with populations under 50,000. Loans must support business operations and facilities with working capital to cure problems caused by the coronavirus emergency.Eligible lenders include federal or state chartered financial institutions, Farm Credit lenders, S&Ls and others. Eligible borrowers include agricultural producers and a wide variety of entities operating rural businesses. Differences from the regular loan guarantee program include support for agricultural production, 90% guarantees, 10-year maximum terms and others. The application deadline is September 15, 2021 or whenever funds are all used. For more information, contact an RD state office. An interim final rule for the CARES Act program is effective immediately with comments due on June 22. For more information on the rule, contact Mark Brodziski, RBCS, 202-205-0903.

OCC finalizes CRA regulations, Federal Reserve and FDIC decline to join.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released a final regulation to revise enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act on May 20. The final rule retained much of the OCC’s controversial proposal, but several major elements of the initial proposal were not adopted. The rulemaking process received thousands of public comments, including a comment from HAC, which did not support the draft. Historically the three federal banking regulatory agencies have issued joint regulations but OCC’s final rule was not joined by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which had signed on to the proposal when it was released in January. The Federal Reserve Board did not join either the proposal or the final version. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, the California Reinvestment Coalition and Democracy Forward intend to sue OCC to block its final rule. On May 21, Comptroller Joseph M. Otting announced his resignation.

June 2 webinar to explore five good ideas for rural philanthropy.
The Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group, in partnership with HAC and others, will offer a webinar titled Ratcheting Up Rural Response, Recovery and Resilience: Five Good Ideas for Philanthropy Right Now on June 2 at 2:00 pm Eastern time. Funders and rural practitioners will explore ways to provide immediate relief for the coronavirus’s impacts and to improve prospects for recovery.

Half of rural households have responded to the census, HAC reports.
A HAC analysis found that as of May 17 the rural response rate to the 2020 Census was 53%, lagging the 59.6% national rate. This Census is the first to rely primarily on online responses – a concern for rural communities given long-established internet deficiencies, household dynamics and poor connectivity in many rural markets.The coronavirus pandemic has also delayed in-person delivery of Census forms to the 5% of households, mostly rural, who do not receive them by mail. HAC encourages everyone to respond.

RuralSTAT: As of May 26, there were 121,274 reported cases of COVID-19 in counties outside of metropolitan areas, and an associated 4,600 deaths. The numbers of reported rural (outside metro) cases and deaths have more than doubled in the past 30 days. Source: Housing Assistance Council tabulations of data from the New York Times, based on reports from state and local health agencies.

President orders reducing regulations to aid economic recovery.
An Executive Order issued on May 19 directs federal agencies to temporarily or permanently rescind, modify or waive regulations in order to promote job creation and economic growth.It gives OMB the authority to oversee compliance and to issue further instructions to agencies.

SBA relief program needs changes to better aid underserved and rural businesses, say reviewers and users.
Reports by the Small Business Administration’s Inspector General and the Center for Responsible Lending have concluded that the Paycheck Protection Program created by the CARES Act did not serve disadvantaged businesses, including those in rural areas, as well as Congress intended. The IG found the SBA’s administration of the program mostly aligned with the statute but missed the mark in some ways, including not requiring lenders to prioritize underserved and rural borrowers. CRL’s analysis concluded that “structural inequities made it extremely difficult for small businesses – and particularly businesses owned by people of color – to qualify for assistance or receive it in time to save their businesses and the jobs of the employees that depend on them.” An article by Talk Poverty provides examples from California illustrating CRL’s findings. Rural participants in a recent online forum convened by a House subcommittee offered similar stories, saying the program has been helpful for rural businesses but could be even better.

H-2A farmworkers quadrupled from 2005 to 2019.
In 2005 just over 48,000 positions were certified for farmworkers with temporary H-2A visas. By 2019 more than 258,000 received certification, according to data posted by USDA’s Economic Research Service. Other farm labor data from ERS covers demographic characteristics, wages and more.

Tenants and owners of single-family homes and small buildings more likely to be economically affected by coronavirus downturn.
Noting that existing data and eviction protections tend to exclude single-family homes and small multifamily buildings, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies examined the characteristics of tenants in such homes and concluded that job losses related to the current economy could leave 20% unable to pay some or all of their rent. For larger apartment buildings the estimate is 12%. Smaller properties are also more likely to be owned by individuals who may be less able to weather a loss of rental income. JCHS did not analyze geographic differences, but HAC data tabulations show that 45% of rural renters live in single-family homes, compared to only 19% in cities and 34% in suburbs. 

Recent publications and media of interest

• A Deadly ‘Checkerboard’: Covid-19’s New Surge across Rural America in the Washington Post describes the development of coronavirus hot spots in specific rural locations with limited resources.
• The Navajo Nation’s Diné College Faces the Worst Coronavirus Outbreak in the Country is a Center for American Progress article explaining how the college and its students are handling the highest per capita infection rate in the U.S. on the Navajo Nation, where 30% to 40% of residents lack running water and internet service is severely limited.
• State of Homelessness: 2020 Edition, a report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, presents data on homelessness before the coronavirus crisis began, along withsome early predictions about the pandemic’s effect on this vulnerable population.

Need capital for your affordable housing project?  HAC’s loan funds provide low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development and construction/rehabilitation. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600. 

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including tribes). 

* The reference to the Section 502 direct program was omitted when this issue of the HAC News was originally published. The extension is noted near the bottom of USDA’s announcement. HAC apologizes for any confusion.

HAC News Formats. pdf

May 14, 2020
Vol. 49, No. 10

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.  

New coronavirus relief bill introduced in House. 

H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, introduced on May 12, would provide substantial new housing assistance. The House is expected to pass the bill on May 15, but it is not expected to become law in its current form. 

• The measure includes $309 million for additional USDA Section 521 Rental Assistance, which would be available for tenants who are not currently receiving RA as well as those who are. Up to $25 million of the total could be used for Section 542 vouchers.  
• The bill would expand the CARES Act’s provisions, which protect only those with federal housing assistance or federally backed mortgages, by creating a 12-month prohibition on all evictions of renters or homeowners based on nonpayment and a 12-month forbearance period for all owners of multifamily rental properties.  

• Funding would be added to numerous HUD programs including CDBG, public housing, vouchers, Sections 202 and 811, and McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs. Another $100 billion would finance emergency aid to tenants through the Emergency Solutions Grant program.  
• State housing finance agencies would administer a new $75 billion Homeowner Assistance Fund. 
• Setasides for tribes would include $100 million for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Housing Improvement Program and $20 million for BIA to provide and deliver potable water.  
• The bill would revise USDA’s authority to offer payment moratoria to Section 502 direct and Section 504 borrowers, requiring that determinations be based on individual borrowers’ circumstances.  

SBA taking Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications from agricultural businesses. 

Agricultural businesses with fewer than 500 employees are currently the only enterprises that can apply for the Small Business Administration’s coronavirus-related EIDL loans and advances. (SBA is continuing to process applications submitted before April 15 by other businesses.) A USDA webcast about the program is available online. For more information, contact the SBA disaster assistance customer service center, 1-800-659-2955, disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.  

Agencies offer information for tenants and homeowners. 

CFPB, FHFA and HUD launched a new website on May 12 that explains CARES Act protections for renters and homeowners, suggests resources for additional help and provides information on how to avoid COVID-19 related scams. It also includes explanations and links to help determine whether homes are federally backed, a requirement for relief under CARES. A detailed CFPB blog post offers even more material for renters. USDA Rural Development has also published new Frequently Asked Questions for tenants in USDA-financed rentals, available in English and Spanish.  

Census Bureau resumes some field operations.  

After suspending field operations for the 2020 decennial Census in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Census Bureau has restarted them in some places to reach out to people who otherwise might not respond. HAC encourages everyone in the U.S. to respond to the Census.  

HAC examines data on coronavirus infections in rural America.  

As of May 3, there were more than 67,000 reported cases of COVID-19 and an estimated 2,500 associated deaths in rural communities. Maps and graphics presenting HAC’s analysis of this data are posted online. Rural areas with extremely high per capita infection rates include some communities with meat packing facilities in the Midwest, persistently poor African-American communities in the Southeast and Native American communities. Communities on, or near, the Navajo Nation have some of the highest reported infection rates in the entire U.S.

Reporting capacity may play a role in rural media coverage.  

According to a new report by the Housing Assistance Council and Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group, Revealing Rural Realities: What Fuels Inaccurate and Incomplete Coverage of Rural Issues?, rural issues are likely to receive less attention in the media because of the lack of robust rural reporting capacity. The research, which included interviews of rural and non-rural journalists and a scan of media coverage, also found there is enormous interest on the part of journalists and their readers to learn about the issues that affect rural America, but resource and time limitations affect rural reporting efforts.  

Good rural data – including reliable sources of housing data – is essential.  

A new report, In Search of “Good” Rural Data: Measuring Rural Prosperity, shines light on the shortcomings of available data for rural communities. Published by the Urban Institute with the Housing Assistance Council and Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group, this research included interviews with rural data practitioners and a data scan of key sources. The report calls for increased sample size, partnerships between governments and data users and a re-evaluation of rural definitions to better reflect rural realities.  

All extreme poverty counties in 2018 were rural, ERS reports. 

Using the most recent available American Community Survey data to examine poverty rates by county, USDA’s Economic Research Service found that of the 664 counties with poverty rates above 20%, 524 were outside metropolitan areas. Fifteen of the 664 had extremely high poverty rates, above 40%, and all of those were outside metro areas. They were concentrated in South Dakota and Mississippi, where Native Americans and African Americans make up large portions of the population in poverty.  

Recent publications and media of interest   

• Hotspots: Prisons and Slaughterhouses Hit Rural Communities Hard, a Nonprofit Quarterly article, details how COVID-19 has disproportionately affected rural areas with meat processing plants and correctional facilities. The article explains why these industries were wooed by struggling rural communities and how promises of improved economies have gone largely unfulfilled. It also explores other industry possibilities, such as health care centers, that would benefit the health and well-being of residents.  
• Making Health Count: Monetizing the Health Benefits of In-Home Services Delivered by Energy Efficiency Programs, a report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, notes that the large existing network of in-home energy efficiency programs could be modified to include measures that promote better health outcomes for residents. If existing weatherization programs targeted four common health risks – asthma, falls, and exposure to extreme heat or cold – they could save more than $228 million annually due to avoided health harms.  
• Millions Stuck at Home with no Plumbing, Kitchen or Place to Stay Safe from Kaiser Health News points out that keeping healthy is complicated for the millions of Americans who live without complete plumbing or kitchens, or in overcrowded conditions. Homes in rural areas are more likely to lack these basic services than in other places of the country. The analysis relied in part on HAC data.  
• Monterey County Ag Workers Comprise Nearly a Quarter of County COVID-19 Diagnoses, an article in The Californian, describes the health risks faced by farmworkers due to factors including their often crowded housing conditions.  

Need capital for your affordable housing project?  HAC’s loan funds provide low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development and construction/rehabilitation. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including tribes).