DELAWARE – U.S. Sens. Chris Coons and Lisa Blunt Rochester and U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride announced a nearly $1 million federal investment aimed at expanding affordable housing opportunities in Kent and Sussex counties.
The lawmakers said a $940,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant will support the Milford Housing Development Corporation’s efforts to build 24 energy-efficient homes for low-income families in rural Delaware communities.
The funding comes through the USDA Rural Development’s 523 Mutual Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance Grant Program and will help continue the organization’s self-help housing program over the next two years.
“Affordable housing is about more than building homes, it’s about creating opportunity,” Coons said in a statement. “Thanks to this $940,000 investment, the Milford Housing Development Corporation will help more Delaware families realize the dream of homeownership in our rural communities.”
The self-help housing program allows families who may not otherwise qualify for traditional homeownership opportunities to contribute “sweat equity” by working together to construct their own homes and the homes of their neighbors.
The lawmakers said the investment is part of ongoing efforts to address housing costs and increase access to affordable housing, particularly in rural and low-income communities.
They also pointed to their recent support of the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which they said is the first comprehensive housing affordability bill to pass Congress in three decades.
