Tell Albany it's time to invest in affordable, decent homes for all New Yorkers!
Habitat for Humanity - New York City, State Assembly Member Vito Lopez and other statewide affordable housing advocates ask you to sign this petition urging the New York State legislature to:
- Create an Empire State Housing Investment Fund with a dedicated revenue stream -- the best mechanism for building and preserving affordable homes in every New York community.
Affordable housing creates jobs, revitalizes neighborhoods, generates tax revenues and creates decent, safe and permanent homes.
We, the undersigned, note that New York State has a dire shortage of decent, safe and affordable homes. This crisis touches families in every region -- from Long Island to New York City to Western New York.
Many states have developed a solution: creating affordable housing trust funds financed with state revenue.
Successful housing trust funds have a dedicated revenue stream that does not require annual appropriations. Characterized by flexibility, these housing trust funds support a wide range of activities, from new construction and rehabilitation to rental assistance and homeless shelters.
That is why Habitat for Humanity - New York City supports the Empire State Housing Alliance's Empire State Housing Investment Fund legislation, which calls for dedicating SONYMA Mortgage Insurance Fund excess reserves for affordable homes
The Housing Investment Fund will:
-- expand the resources for housing for low-income New Yorkers;
-- establish a fund flexible enough to serve the state's diverse housing markets;
-- encourage local investment in affordable housing and the development of local housing trust funds; and
-- help create and revitalize vibrant, mixed-income communities.
We thank you for reading this letter and urge you to create the Empire State Housing Investment Fund.
