Nevada gets $2 million for low-income housing

Rebecca Malone

Tuesday, June 26, 2001 | 11:05 a.m.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded Nevada nearly $2 million in federal housing grants to provide affordable rental housing for low-income families.

The Las Vegas Housing Authority's share was $806,756.

"These grant awards enable our local communities to assist Nevada's families in finding and affording a home," said Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. "More and more families move to our great state every day, and these federal grants will help to expand the housing options available to them."

The grant will help provide 110 vouchers to residents qualifying for Section 8 housing benefits. Frederick Brown, executive director for the housing authority, said about 165 people have applied for the vouchers.

The grants are part of the 2001 Fair Share Allocation of Incremental Voucher Funding Competition, which provides funding to local agencies to help finance affordable housing.

"This is one of the most effective ways to give families some power over the environment in which they raise their children," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. "Giving families the resources and the opportunity to move into a fairly priced apartment, in an area that makes the most sense for their lives, is the absolute best way we can empower families to achieve."

The Nevada Rural Housing Authority, which includes Pahrump, received $588,808 as part of the program. The Housing Authority of the City of Reno got $569,012.