Senate Endorses Housing America Campaign 2007

The State Senate on Thursday joined with other government officials across the nation in helping raise awareness of the importance of affordable housing and community development programs and resources. Senate Resolution 30, by Joe Sweeden, endorses the Housing America 2007 Campaign and recommits the Senate to meeting the affordable housing and community development needs of Oklahoma.

"For more than 70 years, our country has, under the U.S. Housing Act, worked to promote the general welfare of our people by providing funds to states and their political subdivisions to address the shortage of safe and sanitary housing for low income families," said Sweeden, D-Pawhuska. "Public housing is home to over two million people, forty-percent of whom are children. Current estimates also show that, on any given night, there are nearly 755,000 homeless nationwide and up to 3.5 million people who experience homelessness at some point throughout the year. For this reason, it's imperative that Oklahoma does its part to address this issue and make sure that our citizens have adequate and affordable housing in their times of need."

During March and April 2007, numerous groups including the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Housing Assistance Council will launch Housing America 2007, a national campaign to educate the public and officials of the critical need to address the nation's housing and community development concerns.