The Advocacy Update serves to provide you with new and current information regarding advocacy activities as well as provide you with activities that your chapter can incorporate into your regular activities For questions or comments about this Advocacy Update, please contact Faith Zahn at fzahn@habitat.org or (800) HABITAT, Ext. 7456.
Acquiring and developing land for residential housing is challenging, even for large for-profit land developers. It is even more challenging for Habitat for Humanity affiliates. Given the costs, legal complexity and lengthy timelines that are often required in order to assemble and prepare sites for development, it is not surprising that many affiliates identify site acquisition as the number one challenge to their productivity. Many affiliates seek to obtain donations of properties that can be developed into affordable housing. For many individuals and corporations, a land donation is an attractive means to dispose of real estate assets, while realizing tax benefits. But if such donations are not available, properties will need to be purchased by the affiliate. As sites have become more expensive and difficult to acquire, many affiliates have chosen to increase the density of the housing produced on a given site, by building duplexes, town homes and condominiums in order to provide more homes to more families. As land acquisition becomes more complex, it occasionally occurs that a Habitat affiliate may not have sites available for construction when volunteers are ready to build. These situations point to the importance of advocating with your affiliates for land acquisition in ways which could benefit the affiliate and the families they are hoping to serve
Appropriations*: Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) *Appropriation- A formal approval to draw funds from the Treasury for specific purposes Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) CDBG provides local municipalities with funding for grants for a variety of economic development activities, including affordable housing development. HFHI is supporting Congressional proposals which call for allocating to HUD $4.13 billion in funding for 2008. The President’s 2008 budget proposes $2.968 billion for CDBG, a 25 percent cut in funding from the 2007 level of $4.13 billion. In previous years CDBG funding has experienced a steady decline with appropriation levels at $4.93 billion in 2004, $4.70 billion in 2005, and $4.18 billion in 2006. Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program The HOME program is a federal block grant to state and local governments administered by HUD that provides funding for predevelopment, land acquisition, construction, and rehabilitation costs of creating affordable housing. HFH requests $2 billion for HOME in 2008. The President’s 2008 budget requests $1.97 billion for HOME, a $50 million increase over his 2007 budget request. HOME appropriations have gradually increased closer to the 2004 level of $2 billion with funding set at $1.75 billion in 2006, $1.92 billion in 2007, and now a requested $2 billion in 2008. Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) The SHOP program provides grants to national and regional non-profit organizations that provide funding to purchase land and provide infrastructure for the construction of homes for low-income families. HFHI requests $39 million in SHOP appropriations. The President’s 2008 and 2007 budgets requested $39 million for the SHOP program, a 100 percent increase from the 2006 funding level. This increase reversed the pattern of decreased SHOP funding in previous years in which appropriations were set at $26.8 million in 2004, $24.8 million in 2005, and $19.8 million in 2006, and $19.8 million in 2007.
First and foremost, it is important to know who to contact. The above appropriations are federal legislations (not state issues), and therefore, you need to contact your federal legislators in the House and the Senate. Web sites such as congress.org can locate your Federal Representative and even show you how he or she voted on legislative priorities. -Collaborate with your local affiliate to invite your representative on a Habitat site and introduce them to homeowners, volunteers, and staff. -Use the advocacy toolkit to assist you on an effective letter-writing campaign. -Speak with your Representative’s staffers. Staffers often can assist your outreach efforts. -Know the structure of your Federal Government and the life of an appropriation. -After you educate yourself, share what you discovered with your campus chapter. -Sign up to become an advocate for Habitat for Humanity International.
Background: The Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act (the GROWTH Act) seeks to alter US foreign assistance and trade programs to prioritize economic opportunities for women living in poverty worldwide. Today, it is not uncommon in poor countries for women not to have the right to own land and property. Because women can not own homes, many families are facing homelessness, unemployment, and hunger. For more information from HFHI, visit Habitat's Government and Advocacy Web site.
-The GROWTH Act creates an ‘incentive fund’ within USAID to actively encourage economic opportunity projects in poor developing countries that incorporate women’s needs -The GROWTH Act would provide women more support to help poor women lift themselves and their families out of poverty by creating more economic opportunities for them. Furthermore, it will enhance women’s land and property rights, help women get better jobs and make women’s jobs better, and ensure that the benefits of trade reach poor women. -For more information on what YOU can do to advocate for the GROWTH Act go to www.slamthedoor.org .
