ALLISON HILL. FEDERAL FUNDING HELPED ORGANIZATIONS MAKE THE EFFORT TO BUILD HOMES LIKE THIS ONE HERE ON HUMMEL STREET IN HARRISBURG. IT WAS PART OF A PUSH TO GET MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING INTO THE CITY’S STOCK OF RESIDENCES. IT ALSO BROUGHT A KEY WHITE HOUSE ADVISER HERE TODAY TO DISCUSS WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO STILL BE DONE. THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I’M TRYING. VETERAN DAMON LEE TAYLOR SHOWS OFF HIS SWATARA STREET HOME TO SENIOR ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT, TOM PEREZ, AFTER OVERCOMING HOMELESSNESS, TAYLOR NOW OWNS A HOME BUILT WITH THE SUPPORT OF $250,000 IN FEDERAL BLOCK GRANT FUNDING. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME, SO I’VE BEEN HERE LIKE A YEAR AND FOUR MONTHS, AND IT’S JUST BEEN A BLESSING. IT’S BEEN A BLESSING. PEREZ’S VISIT TO HARRISBURG COMES MONTHS AHEAD OF DEMOCRAT AND PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’S REMATCH WITH REPUBLICAN AND FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP IN NOVEMBER, I ASKED PEREZ IF THE ELECTIONS RESULTS COULD POTENTIALLY IMPACT FUTURE FUNDING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING. WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO WORK ON THESE INVESTMENTS THAT ARE HELPING TO BUILD COMMUNITIES, MAKE NEIGHBORHOODS SAFE AND AS IMPORTANT AS EVER, GIVE DIGNITY TO PEOPLE LIKE MR. TAYLOR. BUT SOME REPUBLICANS SAY TAXPAYER FUNDS ARE NOT THE ONLY SOLUTION TO INCREASING HOME OWNERSHIP. STATE REPRESENTATIVE THOMAS KUTZ WANTS TO GET RID OF THE TAX ON REAL ESTATE SALES FOR FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS, INSTEAD OF STARTING WITH PUBLIC INVESTMENT. WE SHOULD BE STARTING WITH SEEING WHAT WE CAN DO BY REDUCING THE BURDEN ON HOMEOWNERS AND REDUCING THE TAX BURDEN, PEREZ SAID. AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS NOT JUST A HARRISBURG ISSUE, AND HE PLANNED TO VISIT OTHER COMMUNITIES IN PENNSYLVANIA TODAY AS PART OF AN EFFORT TO HIGHLIGHT WHERE FEDERAL FUNDING CAN HELP IN
Senior White House advisor visits Harrisburg to highlight affordable housing investments
Federal funding has been leveraged to draw development of affordable housing in Harrisburg, and it also drew a top Biden official to the city on Tuesday to highlight projects in South Allison Hill that are aimed at getting more first-time homeowners into houses.Tom Perez, a senior advisor to the president of the United States, visited homes built on Swatara and Hummel streets in the city as part of a visit to highlight how hundreds of thousands of federal dollars had been used to help open affordable housing in the city.Both projects were advanced with the help of hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding allocations to Tri-County Housing Development. The city has also set aside $8 million to be leveraged for affordable housing projects.”We have to build, build, build. That’s what the president said months ago. That’s what we need to do,” he said following the visit to the Hummel Street homes.Perez and Mayor Wanda Williams visited a home on Swatara Street owned by Damon Lee Taylor, a veteran who had previously experienced homelessness before getting help from local organizations that eventually led him to be able to finance purchasing the home as a first-time buyer.Taylor was proud of his homeownership and said it was a life-changing experience for him.”It feels great — something you can call your own and something you can even pass on. Something with value,” he said.
Federal funding has been leveraged to draw development of affordable housing in Harrisburg, and it also drew a top Biden official to the city on Tuesday to highlight projects in South Allison Hill that are aimed at getting more first-time homeowners into houses.
Tom Perez, a senior advisor to the president of the United States, visited homes built on Swatara and Hummel streets in the city as part of a visit to highlight how hundreds of thousands of federal dollars had been used to help open affordable housing in the city.
Both projects were advanced with the help of hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding allocations to Tri-County Housing Development. The city has also set aside $8 million to be leveraged for affordable housing projects.
“We have to build, build, build. That’s what the president said months ago. That’s what we need to do,” he said following the visit to the Hummel Street homes.
Perez and Mayor Wanda Williams visited a home on Swatara Street owned by Damon Lee Taylor, a veteran who had previously experienced homelessness before getting help from local organizations that eventually led him to be able to finance purchasing the home as a first-time buyer.
Taylor was proud of his homeownership and said it was a life-changing experience for him.
“It feels great — something you can…
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