By Jayvee Vallejera
Any cuts to the $65 million the Guam Housing Urban Renewal Authority receives each year would result in thousands of families being made homeless and will worsen the homelessness problem of the territory, according to Elizabeth F. Napoli. director of the Guam Housing Urban Renewal Authority.
Napoli noted that since the agency is 100 percent federally funded, the suspension of any housing program will have widespread impacts.
“Yes, the suspension of any housing program will render people homeless without the funding for needed housing assistance,” she said.
GHURA houses approximately 13,500 individuals/families under its 750 Public Housing units and provides 2,700 Housing Choice Vouchers that help families rent from private landlords.
Also, GHURA administers grant funding to partner agencies and non-profit organizations that provide services to homeless and at-risk of homelessness individuals.
In fiscal year 2023, GHURA received $4.5 million for eligible projects under the Community Development Block Grant, Home Investment Partnership Grant, and other programs.
So far, though, GHURA continues to run both the Public Housing and Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher programs without interruption, Napoli said.
The U.S. Housing and Urban Development informed GHURA on Jan. 27 that the U.S. Office of Management and Budget had instructed all federal departments to temporarily pause all activities related to the obligation and disbursement of federal financial assistance.
The directive was recalled two days later, allowing GHURA to continue administering HUD programs.
Amid the cost-cutting mood sweeping through the federal government under the second Trump administration, Napoli said the HUD has taken every step possible to soften the blow from any possible cuts and to avoid any sequestration of funds, particularly since the U.S. Congress has been unable to pass legislation on balanced deficit reduction in prior years.
“To date, in its 62 years of existence, GHURA’s housing programs…have not been affected by such budget cut threats,” she said.
That’s not to say that GHURA is now in the clear.
Napoli said there is so much uncertainty about what may happen next with President Trump and Elon Musk’s “unchecked authority to ‘delete’ federal agencies and their programs."
Musk, the appointed head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, has taken the lead in firing thousands of federal workers in the last few weeks as part of Trump’s campaign promise to trim the federal government. Musk said last week that some government agencies may have to be “deleted.”
Subscribe to
our digital
monthly edition