NHC member NeighborWorks America announced Thursday that it would make $88.5 million in grant funds available to housing counselors as part of its Housing Stability Counseling Program (HSCP), which received $100 million in federal funding through the American Rescue Plan. NeighborWorks has reserved $35 million of the funds for housing counseling agencies serving communities of color, and the organization intends to target funds to neighborhoods that score highly on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index.

"With the implementation of the Housing Stability Counseling Program, we know that we are helping to mitigate the risk of eviction and foreclosure for some very vulnerable populations,” said NeighborWorks President and CEO Marietta Rodriguez. “HSCP is the type of collaboration between nonprofits and government we know makes a difference for the communities we serve.” Potential grantees can apply for between $50,000 and $10 million in funds on the HSCP website.

Freddie Mac announced Wednesday that its Board of Directors has tapped former Wells Fargo mortgage executive Michael J. DeVito as the enterprise’s new CEO. DeVito will replace Freddie Mac’s interim CEO, Mark Grier, who will return to his position as a member of the enterprise’s board. “I am honored to lead a mission-driven company with proven success in making home possible for millions of families over the past five decades,” said DeVito.

DeVito’s appointment comes almost six months after the departure of Freddie Mac’s previous CEO, David Brickman, who held the job for only a year and a half. According to HousingWire, Brickman’s resignation was one of several high-profile departures from GSE leadership positions after former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin indicated that the GSEs would likely not be released from conservatorship for the foreseeable future. DeVito will start in July.

On Monday, HUD announced it would make a total of $145 million in competitive funding available to community coalitions to combat youth homelessness through its Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP). In order to be considered for funding, coalitions must develop action plans to reduce youth homelessness in the communities they represent, with particular attention to populations at elevated risk of youth homelessness, such as youth of color, LGBTQ+ youth and youth involved with the juvenile justice system. YHDP also requires applicants to convene Youth Action Boards that consist of youth who have experienced homelessness and must be given substantial power to guide the use of HUD funds. HUD also encourages applicants to propose innovative solutions to the problem of youth homelessness.

HUD also announced this week it would award a total of $160 million to five neighborhood revitalization projects in Camden, New Jersey; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Fort Myers, Florida; and Lewiston, Maine; as part of its Choice Neighborhoods Initiative. The program aims to help severely distressed neighborhoods by replacing HUD-assisted housing with mixed-income developments and improving other amenities, such as public schools. The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative also aims to deconcentrate poverty by attracting more middle-income families to target neighborhoods, though an evaluation by MRDC and the Urban Institute found the first iteration of the program had limited success on this front.

On Monday, Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) introduced the Choice in Affordable Housing Act, which aims to expand the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. The bill would increase access to the number of rentals that accept HCVs in high-opportunity areas by removing programmatic barriers in order to attract landlords to the program and retain their participation. It would also invest $500 million in creating a new Housing Partnership Fund that offers incentives to landlords and security deposit assistance to HCV recipients.

The Senators also released a fact sheet that included endorsements from affordable housing groups and prominent researchers, including NHC member National Multifamily Housing Council. “Research shows that increasing families' access to high-opportunity areas is an important pathway to upward mobility,” said Raj Chetti, director of opportunity insights at Harvard University, who focuses on the effects of housing and neighborhoods on life prospects and was quoted on the fact sheet. “Making it easier for landlords to participate in the Housing Choice Voucher program is critical for increasing housing supply in opportunity-rich areas and by way of this, supporting families' long-term success."