Joe Belden
Joe Belden is a writer and lecturer based in Washington, D.C. He was deputy executive director of the Housing Assistance Council.
Leaky Roof? A USDA Home Repair Option
One USDA program has given out over a billion dollars in rural home repair grants since its inception, and could be inspiration for similar programs in urban and suburban communities as well.
A ‘Public Option’ for Low-Income Homeownership?
What the USDA could teach us about better federal homeownership policy.
Why Doesn’t Rural Housing Get Any Respect?
President Trump's 2020 budget once again proposes to eliminate, or sharply cut, most rural housing efforts and some other USDA rural programs.
Rural Housing: An Election Day Post-Mortem
For those of us in the rural housing silo, the most significant November 4 result may be a fairly ho-hum and fully expected re-election in Eastern Kentucky. In the nation’s most rural Congressional district, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) ran against the same Democratic opponent he defeated in 2012 with 78 percent of […]
So Why Are Those Rural Housing Programs at USDA Anyway?
Housing folks often wonder why the U.S. Department of Agriculture has rural housing programs. The answer goes back to the...
ARRA Adds Resources for Rural Mortgages and Persistent Poverty Counties
The American Recovery and Revitalization Act of 2009 (ARRA) included substantial funds for rural America, much of it targeted to low-income homeownership and some...