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Housing nonprofits and service providers tell council affordable housing and homelessness programs need continued or increased funding
Summary
Nonprofits and housing-service providers asked the County Council to preserve or increase FY26 funding for affordable housing development, rental assistance, housing counseling and homelessness prevention programs, warning that reduced funding would disrupt projects and increase evictions.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — At the April 8 public hearing, multiple nonprofit housing developers and homelessness service providers urged the County Council to preserve or increase funding for affordable housing preservation, development and rental assistance programs in the FY26 operating budget.
Speakers representing Housing Initiative Partnership (HIP), Montgomery Housing Alliance (MHA), Victory Housing and others described long-standing partnerships with the county and said county funding often closes the final financing gaps that allow affordable projects to move forward. “Given the high cost of construction and development in Montgomery County, that funding from the county has almost always been the critical resource to close the final financing gap,” Leila Finukan, CEO of Victory Housing, told the council.
Witnesses asked the council to support the pipeline of multifamily preservation and new development, expand down‑payment assistance, and maintain rental‑assistance programs such as RAP and SHARP that providers said stabilize households and prevent evictions. Mary Koehler of the Montgomery Housing Alliance warned that reduced funding would delay or derail projects and noted a local rise in eviction filings in recent years.
Service providers and program alumni also described individual experiences with shelters and rapid‑rehousing programs. Speakers from the National Center for Children and Families and Jubilee Association of Maryland detailed how temporary shelter and housing placements helped families and individuals regain stability and employment. “Affordable housing restores childhood to children in poverty,” Janice Wellington, an NCCF administrator, said.
Panelists warned that the county’s eviction filings and executions had increased in recent years and urged continued investment in rental assistance and eviction‑prevention programs to avoid increased homelessness.
