Act Now: Urge Indiana Legislators to Protect Fair Housing Funding
We need your help. Tell Congress to fully fund essential fair housing programs!
Since 2011, the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI), a private nonprofit organization, has worked to facilitate open housing for all. Although the FHCCI began as a central Indiana focused organization, with the lack of other similar organizations in the state, the FHCCI is often called upon to provide statewide assistance. We have done so by applying for extremely competitive yearly grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through its Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP). FHIP is the only direct federal resource for local, nonprofit fair housing services. HUD FHIP grants make up about 85% of the FHCCI's budget.
Fair housing is not a partisan issue, it’s the law. Fair housing has historically been supported by Republicans and Democrats since the federal Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968. FHIP was initiated as a pilot under President Reagan’s administration. The pilot’s success led to FHIP becoming a permanent HUD program under President George W. Bush’s administration. Fair housing laws protect each of us, in multiple ways, in our personal housing transactions.
FHIP funding is currently facing significant reductions, and impending elimination, across the nation:
- In February, at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), HUD terminated 78 already in place FY2023 FHIP contracts claiming that the grants no longer effectuated the program goals or agency priorities. This gutted almost half of all FHIP programs operated by private fair housing groups nationwide. One of these terminated grants was for the FHCCI which funded our popular housing reports. The fate of these grants remains at issue in court.
- HUD has also been withholding FY2024 FHIP funds, approved by Congress, for which we submitted grant applications in November 2024. Awardees would typically have been announced early 2025. This is a current funding loss for the FHCCI of approximately $460,000 for 2025-2026.
- HUD has also not issued a NOFO (Notice of Funding Opportunity) for FY2025 FHIP funds that had been appropriated by Congress. This is a possible loss of approximately $885,000 for our 2026-2027 year. These funds and the FY2024 funds are the basis of a lawsuit that has been filed in court.
- The administration’s FY2026 budget, which is currently being debated, has proposed to eliminate the FHIP program entirely - zeroing it out - which would result in the FHCCI having to close due to the lack of sufficient local, state, and/or private foundation support.
The FHCCI's impact since 2011 has been substantial. Without immediate access to FHIP funding, the FHCCI faces significant, imminent reductions in services to the almost 7 million people across our state who may be in need of our services. We will have to cut our 8-person staff down to a skeleton crew and cut our service area down to, at most, the 9-county Indianapolis metro area. If funding is not restored, many communities will lose these critical resources that protect housing rights and stability.
There is still time to correct course! Let Indiana's congressional delegation know that you:
- Demand HUD to announce the FY2024 FHIP awards, which had an application deadline in November 2024, so services to people on the ground are not disrupted further;
- Urge HUD to release the FY2025 NOFO as soon as possible so fair housing organizations can plan long-term to meet constituent needs; and
- Request $60 million be included in the FY2026 budget to support FHIP.
Act now to tell Congress to fully fund fair housing programs!
Letter Campaign by
FHCCI
Sponsored by
Indianapolis, IN