While in Milwaukee, acting HUD director announces $100M competitive grant for affordable housing

Jovonte Kendrick has been renting a two-bedroom apartment in the former McKinley School on Milwaukee’s near west side for just over a year. 

Kendrick was happy to make the move last summer. He says it’s cleaner and the building owner is more responsive than where he was living before. 

The McKinley school building was converted into 38 affordable housing units in 2023 and was highlighted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday. 

Acting HUD Secretary Adrianne Todman and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, were in Milwaukee to announce $100 million in competitive grant funding to build more affordable housing across the country.

Kendrick met with Todman before she spoke to reporters. 

He told her he was grateful for his own living arrangements, but much more work needs to be done in Milwaukee. 

Kendrick is a street outreach worker for Community Health Centers. He works with homeless people, many struggling with mental health and addiction, to help them find affordable homes. 

“There are a lot of people, outside, still on the list that could use housing,” Kendrick said, pointing to a list on his dining room table of people he is trying to find housing for. 

“I don’t think there’s enough funding or space available for homeless people, as far as shelters and then transitioning them from shelters to actual housing,” Kendrick continued. “I think HUD is helping. But we could use a little bit more help.”

During a press conference with reporters in one of the vacant McKinley apartments, Todman said the Biden-Harris administration has been committed to affordable and public housing. 

The $100 million in competitive grant program funding announced Tuesday, called Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing), allows eligible communities to apply for funding to build more homes.

A similar $85 million grant was announced in June. Milwaukee received $2.1 million.

“One of the reasons I’m here is we know that there are people that need affordable housing, other people who are struggling with high housing costs, whether they’re renting or they want to become a first time homeowner,” Todman said.

“That’s one of the reasons why President Biden, Vice President Harris and I have been laser-focused on making sure we are doing absolutely everything we can to bring down housing costs for people here in Milwaukee, people in the state of Wisconsin and people all across the United States,” she continued.

Rents at McKinley School range from about $500 to $1,000 per month for two- and three-bedroom apartments. The units are available for residents who qualify for Section 42 housing, a program that helps people who earn less than 40 to 50 percent of the median income in their area.

Moore’s reasons for being at McKinley School were more personal. 

She attended elementary school at McKinley and when the building was converted to a day care center, Moore’s sons attended. 

“For years, I’ve been terrified as it just lay wasted that it would be torn down, because it has meant so much to me personally and had been this asset in my community,” Moore said. “I have been so impressed that all of the partners have been able to preserve this community asset for the right purpose and the right reason. If housing doesn’t come back, our economy won’t come back.”