Section 901 Programs

Section 901 of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Address Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and Pandemic Influenza Act, 2006 authorized PHAs to combine assistance provided under sections 9(d) and (e) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (1937 Act) and assistance provided under section 8(o) of the 1937 Act, for the purpose of facilitating the prompt, flexible, and efficient use of funds provided under these sections of the 1937 Act to assist families who were receiving housing assistance under the 1937 Act immediately prior to Hurricane Katrina or Rita and were displaced from their housing by the hurricanes.

The Jefferson Parish Housing Authority has received approval from HUD to use the Section 901 funds to rehabilitate and improve public housing, develop more affordable housing, and provide expanded Family Self-Sufficiency services. These programs will all be instituted over the next five years (2007-2011) and will benefit current public housing and Section 8 families as well as other low-income families in Jefferson Parish who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina who were previously assisted by HUD.

Since January 2007, JPHA has rehabilitated and improved its public housing, is actively developing additional affordable housing, and expanded its Family Self-Sufficiency services to produce sustainable improvements in the quality of life for low-income families in Jefferson Parish seeking safe, decent, and affordable housing.  All programs preference existing public housing and voucher households.

Moving families from renters to owners is a major goal of JPHA over the next 5 years, with the added benefit of freeing up more rental housing stock for eligible families. Thus, the impact on the affordable housing stock will multiply. Homeownership counseling and the expanded Family Self-Sufficiency Type Services is offered and promoted to all returning families and to all currently served families during the re-examination and interim re-examination process.