Legislative Action Alert:: Establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Now

National Coalition for the Homeless

2201 P St. NW

Washington, DC 20037-1033

Phone: (202) 462-4822 Fax: (202) 462-4823

Email: info@nationalhomeless.org

Web page: www.nationalhomeless.org

Legislative Action Alert:

Establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Now!

WHAT: The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) urges individuals and organizations to contact their U.S. Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 (H.R. 2895), designating funds for the production, rehabilitation and preservation of 1.5 million affordable housing units for low and very-low income people, stipulating that at least 75% of funds provided go to extremely low-income households (earning below 30% of median income).

WHEN: Contact your U.S. Representatives NOW! to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 2895.

WHY: There is an acute lack of affordable housing and the need for a National Housing Trust Fund is well documented. Nationwide, there are only 6,187,000 homes renting at prices affordable to! the 9,022,000 extremely low income renter households - a shortage of 2,835,000 homes. Not a single congressional district has enough rental housing affordable and available to extremely low income families. Housing is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30% of household income. (www.nhtf.org)

HOW: Call your U.S. Representative and ask him/her to join as a co-sponsor of the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 (H.R. 2895) legislation to establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund for low and very-low income households. Here are the easy steps.

1. Call the Congressional Switchboard at 202.225.3121 and ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative’s office. You can also find the contact information for your U.S. Representative by visiting www.house.gov.

2. Introduce yourself and explain to the ! receptionist that you are a constituent. Ask the receptionist to transfer you to the Legislative Assistant handling housing issues. If the staff member is not available, please ask to leave a voice mail message for him/her.

3. Offer the following brief message.

Hello. My name is_____. I am a constituent and I am calling to urge the Representative to join as a cosponsor of the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund of 2007, legislation for the production, rehabilitation and preservation of 1.5 million affordable housing units for low and very-low income people. Please contact the office of Representative Barney Frank to become a co-sponsor, or for additional information.

Please let me know the Representative’s decision. I can be reached at ____________ (provide telephone number, email address, or postal mail address.)

4. Report the results of your calls to Jessica Schuler, NCH Policy ! Analyst, at 202.462.4822 ext.18 or jschuler@nationalhomeless.org.

For Additional Information:

• Contact Jessica Schuler, NCH Policy Analyst at jschuler@nationalhomeless.org or 202.462.4822 ext. 18.
• Visit the NCH website at: www.nationalhomeless.org.
• Visit the National Housing Trust Fund website at: www.nhtf.org
• Contact your local homeless coalition to find out how you can get involved in preventing and ending homelessness in your community. A list of local coalitions is available at www.nationalhomeless.org).