Grand Forks Housing Authority receives more than $8 million from HUD
May 16—GRAND FORKS — The United States Department of Housing and Urban Renewal has announced an $8 million grant and the renewal of its contract with the Grand Forks Housing Authority for the housing voucher program.
The program helps those with low incomes get safe and affordable housing. Terry Hanson, executive director of the Grand Forks Housing Authority, said the organization has already used $3 million of the $8,243,850 it received from HUD to help provide affordable housing through the program this year.
"The interest is there, the need is there and the applications keep coming," Hanson said. "Every month we see the number of applications that come in. We would hope that there would be an end to the need someday, but that need just never goes away."
The Housing Authority is authorized to issue a total of 1,265 vouchers a month. For the general voucher program, a household needs to have 50% or less of the area median income, and 75% of vouchers given have to go to households with 30% or less of the median income.
The Housing Authority received about the same amount from HUD as it has in previous contract renewals, Hanson said. In North Dakota, the Grand Forks Housing Authority was given the most out of all the contract renewals in the state.
The average amount given by the Housing Authority per month is $500 per voucher. Hanson estimates the Grand Forks Housing Authority pays the second-highest rate per unit per month in the state. That's around $150 higher than what the housing authorities in the Fargo area give out on average. The only other area where housing authorities have higher average voucher payments are regions in western North Dakota near the Bakken oil fields, Hanson said.
The contract renewal announcement, which typically happens earlier in the year, was made this week because Congress didn't pass the appropriations bill allocating federal funds until this March, when it typically happens in early fall.
Regionally, several area housing authorities also renewed their contracts and received federal funding for housing voucher programs. In North Dakota, the Traill County Housing Authority received $183,138; the Ramsey County Housing Authority received $631,497; the Walsh County Housing Authority received $206,521; the Pembina County Housing Authority $844,335. In northwest Minnesota, the Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority received $769,411.
In total, HUD has given northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota almost $11 million dollars to help connect people with affordable housing via vouchers.
"With housing costs rising and maybe incomes not rising as fast as inflation, we have more and more people that come in the door and ask for assistance," Hanson said. "A large portion of our clientele is elderly with fixed income, or disabled individuals with fixed income, so they come to us."
