Housing Assistance Council

Housing Assistance Council Improves housing conditions for the rural poor, emphasizing the poorest of the poor in the most rural places www.ruralhome.org

A nonprofit corporation headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) has been helping local organizations build affordable homes in rural America since 1971. HAC emphasizes local solutions, empowerment of the poor, reduced dependence, and self-help strategies. HAC assists in the development of both single- and multi-family homes and promotes homeownership for working low

-income rural families through a self-help, "sweat equity" construction method. The Housing Assistance Council offers services to public, nonprofit, and private organizations throughout the rural United States. HAC also maintains a special focus on high-need groups and regions: Indian country, the Mississippi Delta, farmworkers, the Southwest border colonias, and Appalachia.

HAC Director of Public Policy Jonathan Harwitz recently joined a distinguished group of speakers on a webinar entitled, ...
06/17/2026

HAC Director of Public Policy Jonathan Harwitz recently joined a distinguished group of speakers on a webinar entitled, "Making Permanent Supportive Housing Work in Rural America." The webinar was sponsored by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), and NAEH Senior Research Analyst and Coordinator Nicole Dubois moderated the panel. Themes of discussion included the resource-constrained environment faced by rural practitioners relative to their urban counterparts, rental housing finance models that rely on project size and scale misaligned with the rural housing stock, and the challenge a small number of rural serving providers have covering the great distances involved in serving rural communities. Watch the entire webinar discussion here: https://loom.ly/NiPQn5k

It's Homeownership Month, and HAC supports increased protections and standard mortgage financing opportunities for famil...
06/16/2026

It's Homeownership Month, and HAC supports increased protections and standard mortgage financing opportunities for families in manufactured housing communities. In recent years, factory-built housing has become an area of significant affordable housing innovation and advancement. More than half of all manufactured homes are located in rural areas around the country, and manufactured homes make up 13 percent of all occupied homes in rural and small town communities. Read more about HAC's positions on manufactured housing in our 2026 Policy Priorities: https://loom.ly/2aR056o

HAC was saddened to learn about the passing of Joe Myer. Over 37 years, Joe helped NCALL, now NeighborGood Partners, gro...
06/15/2026

HAC was saddened to learn about the passing of Joe Myer. Over 37 years, Joe helped NCALL, now NeighborGood Partners, grow from a small housing nonprofit to a leading light in affordable housing. His impact is felt every day through fair housing policy, and the countless number of families NeighborGood Partners has helped house over the last forty years. HAC and NeighborGood Partners continue to share a commitment to self-help housing, and our thoughts are with Joe's family, as well as everyone at NeighborGood Partners, during this time.

For this week's Loan Fund Friday, we are taking a look at CHAPS Rentals, a project of Common Roots in Meadville, Pennsyl...
06/12/2026

For this week's Loan Fund Friday, we are taking a look at CHAPS Rentals, a project of Common Roots in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Meadville is a town in Crawford County, in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania. In addition to being considered Duty to Serve rural, Meadville is also considered an Area of Economic Distress, as well as a High Poverty Census tract.

Common Roots requested a loan to purchase two duplexes, where one unit in each building is leased to a low-income household, and one unit is leased to the Crawford County Mental Health Awareness Program (CHAPS). Common Roots has partnered with CHAPS before, and the Common Roots Director of Housing and Community Programs is a former CHAPS employee.

HAC approved the requested loan, which allowed Common Roots to purchase the homes in April of this year. Rehabilitation on the homes has begun, which will create more affordable homes in a high-need area of economic distress.

-House advances USDA and HUD appropriations-OMB proposes significant changes for federal awards-Rural places have more u...
06/11/2026

-House advances USDA and HUD appropriations
-OMB proposes significant changes for federal awards
-Rural places have more unsheltered homeless families
-FY26 Continuum of Care, FY24-25 Youth Homelessness funding notices published
-New HAC publication highlights how heirs’ property manifests in Latino communities
-More uses of AI in affordable rental housing discussed

And more in this edition of HAC News: https://loom.ly/0GYXH8Q

June is Homeownership Month, and one way low and very low-income rural residents can become homeowners is through USDA's...
06/10/2026

June is Homeownership Month, and one way low and very low-income rural residents can become homeowners is through USDA's 502 Direct Loan Program. The interest rate on a Section 502 loan can be as low as 1 percent, and no down payment is required. Over two million families have become homeowners since 1950 through the Section 502 direct program. The funds are repaid to USDA, with interest. HAC supports increased funding for the Section 502 direct loan program, and you can read more about this in our 2026 Policy Priorities: https://loom.ly/2aR056o

Thank you to the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) for providing HAC with several forums at last week's...
06/08/2026

Thank you to the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) for providing HAC with several forums at last week's Housing Credit Connect Conference to highlight the importance of preserving the USDA 515 multifamily portfolio and providing its vulnerable tenants the services they need.

HAC's Director of Public Policy Jonathan Harwitz addressed the full conference as a respondent to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies presentation on Trends in Rental Housing, emphasizing that in rural America, preservation is production: https://loom.ly/qT_8FZA

TOMORROW: Join HAC for a hybrid event: "Recognizing Heirs’ Property Owners During Homeownership Month.” This event inclu...
06/08/2026

TOMORROW: Join HAC for a hybrid event: "Recognizing Heirs’ Property Owners During Homeownership Month.” This event includes a presentation of HAC's recent research on collective landownership and clearing title to heirs’ property. The presentation will be followed by a discussion among national experts on strategies, solutions, and policies that support heirs’ property owners.

1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

Register Here:
https://loom.ly/MU-ihFQ

For this week's Loan Fund Friday, we are taking a look at the East Village Apartments in Alamosa, Colorado.Alamosa has a...
06/05/2026

For this week's Loan Fund Friday, we are taking a look at the East Village Apartments in Alamosa, Colorado.

Alamosa has a population of 9,441 and has grown by almost 9% since 2010. Alamosa is 48% white, 47% Hispanic, and 2% Native American. In addition, the county of Alamosa is a Persistent Poverty County with a tight housing market and increasing rents.

In 2022, HAC issued a loan for $4,125,000 to Crius Holdings, LLC. to develop a 32-unit workforce housing development called the East Village Apartments. Of the 32 units, 16 units were designed for households under 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), and 16 units restricted to households under 120% of AMI. Construction on the property began in May 2023, and by August 2024, construction had completed and work on leasing began. Today, the East Village Apartments serves as a vital affordable housing option in Alamosa.

Join us on June 9th for a presentation of HAC’s new report Understanding Investment, Unlocking Ownership for Heirs’ Prop...
06/03/2026

Join us on June 9th for a presentation of HAC’s new report Understanding Investment, Unlocking Ownership for Heirs’ Property Owners. The research presentation will be followed by a discussion among national experts on strategies, solutions, and policies that support heirs’ property owners.

June 9, 2026
1 :00 – 2:00 PM ET

Register Here
https://loom.ly/MU-ihFQ

Address

Washington D.C., DC

Opening Hours

Monday 8:45am - 5:15pm
Tuesday 8:45am - 5:15pm
Wednesday 8:45am - 5:15pm
Thursday 8:45am - 5:15pm
Friday 8:45am - 5:15pm

Telephone

+12028428600

Website

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