MAJF expresses support for public policies and budget line items designed to increase and preserve the amount of affordable housing in the Commonwealth.  Jewish history and values emphasize the vital importance of the home and the responsibility that every community has toward the most vulnerable people in our midst.  

Line items benefiting Housing saw a big increase from a year ago and did well in the Governor's budget which was released in January.  All three housing line items (Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, Public Housing Operating Subsidy and Alternative Rental Housing Voucher) combined will receive an more than $10 million than last fiscal year.  However, the House Ways and Means budget, which released their budget on April 15th, cut the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) appropriation by 45 %--from approximately $33 million in FY’09 to approximately $18 million in FY’10.  This funding amount is half of Governor Patrick’s House One request to maintain assistance for current households served.  The MRVP currently assists 5,200 low income households with rental assistance in private apartments.  The average annual income of households served is less than $11,000.  Almost all (79%) households are extremely low income and many have incomes below 15% of area median income.  About 2,300 of these households include children under the age of 18.