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Breakdown of American Rescue Plan funding going to Washington public housing authorities

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) passed by Congress in March will send nearly $28 million in housing relief to public housing authorities (PHAs) across Washington State to serve 2,443 households. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will distribute the funding through the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

According to the office of Washington Senator Patty Murray, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, HUD has the ability though the legislation to allocate additional emergency vouchers to PHAs via a formula designed to direct vouchers to areas where eligible populations have the greatest need. The formula also takes into account PHA capacity and geographic diversity.

The funding ranges from $83,688 for the Housing Authority of Grays Harbor County to $11 million for the Housing Authority of King County.

See a breakdown of the funding here:

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PHAs use Emergency Housing Vouchers to aid individuals and families who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking.

In a statement, Murray said the funding is just one step toward addressing a crisis which predated the COVID-19 pandemic.

We faced a housing and homelessness crisis well before this pandemic, and the past year has only made it worse. And for people experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity, or fleeing domestic violence, the pandemic has made being unhoused even more challenging than it already was,” Senator Murray said. “So I’m glad we were able to secure this critical relief to help people get safe, secure housing with the aid of public housing authorities in their communities. The American Rescue Plan was just the start of the work we need to do to combat the housing and homelessness crisis, and I’m going to keep pushing to get needed federal support for housing, rent, and homelessness assistance in Washington state.”


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