Federal funds headed to Springfield Housing Authority

The city of Springfield's Housing Authority is expected to receive more than $26,000 from a pot of $900,000 in U.S. Housing & Urban Development money headed to Missouri this year.

According to a news release from U.S. Sen. Kit Bond's office, the federal funds are available through HUD's Housing Choice Voucher-Family Self Sufficiency program. Public housing authorities across the state will use the FSS funds to help Missouri public and private partners develop strategies to allow "very low-income families" to achieve economic independence and self-sufficiency.

In addition, Bond said Missouri will receive $42.66 million under HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The state intends to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties, the release said.

"These funds will help some Missouri families and neighborhoods hurt by the housing crisis make a fresh start this New Year," said Bond, the lead Republican of the Senate Appropriations Committee that funds HUD.

In the release, Bond stressed that foreclosures hurt families and communities. When one or two houses are foreclosed on in a neighborhood, the entire community is affected by lower property values, vacant homes that attract vandalism, schools and businesses that lose customers, and local governments that lose tax revenue. Bond emphasized that programs such as HUD's NSP are critical to supporting these struggling neighborhoods and to stem the foreclosure crisis.