USCCB backs legislation that aims to help religious groups develop affordable housing

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- Legislation under consideration in Congress would help faith-based organizations respond to a shortage in affordable housing by easing restrictions on the use of their land to develop affordable housing, supporters say.

The Yes in God's Backyard Act, introduced in March by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, would provide technical assistance to faith-based and nonprofit groups interested in using land they already own to respond to housing shortages in their communities, as well as technical assistance to local governments to facilitate training on best practices for working with such groups.

The bill would also create challenge grants to provide additional resources to communities that ease burdensome regulations on affordable rental housing on property owned by faith-based organizations and institutions of higher education.

In a July 12 letter to members of Congress, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged lawmakers to pass the bill, arguing it would "would help faith-based and nonprofit organizations improve their capacity to meet the housing needs of poor and vulnerable community members."

Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said, "The United States is in the midst of a profound and prolonged housing crisis. A systemic lack of affordable housing drives up housing costs for low-income households, exacerbating their financial insecurity."

The legislation, he argued, would help the church serve low-income individuals and families at risk of homelessness by "empowering faith-based and other nonprofit institutions to use their resources responsibly to serve more vulnerable families."

Brown's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from OSV News about the status of the bill, but a review of the Congressional Record shows its status has been unchanged since it was referred to the Senate Housing committee in March.

In a March 12 statement issued when he introduced the legislation, Brown said, "Housing is too expensive and too hard to find in almost every community in America.

"This is a common sense solution -- families need more housing, and churches, synagogues, and other religious organizations want to put their faith into action by developing housing on land they already own." Brown said. "By helping these institutions cut through red tape, we can lower the cost of housing and expand options in Ohio and around the country."

Other signatories on the USCCB letter included Jesuit Father Christopher Kellerman, secretary of the Office of Justice and Ecology at the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States; Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA; and John Barry, president of the National Council of the United States for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the U.S. has a shortage of 7.3 million rental homes that are affordable and available to renters with extremely low incomes, defined as incomes "at or below either the federal poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income, whichever is greater." The group's data shows that only 34 affordable and available rental homes exist for every 100 extremely low-income renter households.