Obama Wants $11B to Fight Homelessness

The White House will propose spending $11 billion over the next 10 years to fight family homelessness. Nearly 26 percent of the country’s homeless families are in New York state, and most of those are located in New York City. “We can see that in New York City specifically, there is a tremendous need,” said Federal Housing Secretary Julián Castro. “As New York City goes, so goes the nation.” As part of his 2017 budget, which will be presented Tuesday, President Obama is expected to ask that $8.8 billion of the proposed money go to housing vouchers and an additional $2.2 billion to short-term assistance. The amount proposed in the new budget is intended to end family homelessness by 2020.