Scott Turner, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and President Donald Trump, are committed to working with faith-based leaders in communities.
“The Pastor’s voice needs to be heard more than ever before with the message of Jesus Christ,” CURE president Donald Eason wrote on X. “Not through government dependency, but with the message of Faith in God, Freedom to exercise our faith and the personal responsibility of helping our communities, our families and our children with the God given talents we all have.”
Churches are invited back to the table.
Right now, HUD is calling on faith-based organizations to help foster care youth.
Shayam Menon, the director of HUD’s Center for Faith, and Ben Hobbs, assistant secretary of Public and Indian Housing, issued a statement on helping children in foster homes transition out of care and becoming self-sufficient.
An excerpt (PDF):
“As you may know, the FYI [Melania Trump Foster Youth to Independence] initiative was launched in 2019 and allows public housing agencies (PHAs) to request and obtain Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) for eligible youth for up to 36 months. FYI provides rental assistance for participants to afford safe housing by paying a portion of the rent based on the participant’s income. This rental assistance may be extended for up to an additional 24 months if the youth meet certain conditions, such as participating in HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program or going to school or working. PHAs also partner with Public Child Welfare Agencies (PCWAs) to provide supportive services for 36 months.
…
“Faith-based organizations are a vital component of this framework, and we invite you to partner with us to strengthen awareness and effective use of this wonderful program. If your organization owns housing or knows landlords who are inspired by their faith, you can help support youth by leasing active units through your local PHA, which pays owners and landlords directly the amount of rent covered by the FYI voucher and handles all inspections. Faith-based organizations can also support foster youth by partnering with PHAs to offer the program’s required supportive services such as basic life skills information/counseling, job preparation, educational and career support, compliance counseling, landlord assurances, and other services to help youth maintain stable housing and work toward self-sufficiency. If your organization is interested in helping youth participating in the FYI program, we encourage you to reach out to PHAs in your area that administer the FYI program. HUD’s FYI webpage contains a list of PHAs currently participating in the FYI program. You can access the following link to locate your local PHA: https://resources.hud.gov/.” [emphasis added]
