Federal cuts to HUD grants threaten impact on housing discrimination efforts

CHICAGO – A new set of federal cuts at the hands of the Trump administration will impact the number of grants the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) can offer to organizations.

Along with these latest reductions, HUD, like many federal agencies, has lost hundreds of employees as DOGE aims to reduce federal spending.

This past Valentine’s Day, former HUD employee Jayna Lennon was just days away from completing her probationary period when she received a termination letter.

“It was really surreal. Yeah, it was a crazy day,” Lennon said.

Often called the front door to HUD, Lennon worked in the department’s Office of Field, Policy and Management. Among the jobs of that team is answering thousands of calls guiding residents to HUD resources.

“A lot of times, questions were about fair housing complaints,” Lennon recalled. “Without us, those calls will go unanswered.”

In 2023, HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity awarded about $30 million in grants to nonprofits nationwide. The money helped investigate and litigate housing discrimination and educate communities of their rights.

On Saturday, The Associated Press reported the Trump administration plans to cut nearly half of the 162 HUD grants to organizations for fair housing.

“Without federal funding, those agencies will not be able to do the same work and then if HUD internally has less capacity, it just really dismantles a system to protect housing against housing discrimination,” Lennon said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for HUD told the AP:

“The Department is responsible for ensuring our grantees and contractors are in compliance with the President’s Executive Orders. If we determine they are not in compliance, then we are required to take action. The Department will continue to serve the American people, including those are facing housing discrimination or eviction.”

“I left a separate job, took a pay cut to be able to serve my community,” former HUD employee Frank Zhu said.

After just six weeks serving as a financial analyst under HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing, Zhu was terminated as well.

His work ensured public housing authorities across the state, including the Chicago Housing Authority, and covered the housing costs of low-income residents.

“The Chicago Housing Authority covers about 80,000 families worth of housing. This includes family choice vouchers, this includes public housing; these are the families where HUB subsidizes a portion of their income to make sure they can cover rent, and if these funds are cut, we’re talking about tens of thousands, maybe millions of families that could lose access to safe and secure housing,” Zhu said.

According to Zhu, one of the things HUD is most known for is issuing community development block grants. Shelter and youth services, safety, mental health and supporting people with disabilities are just some of the areas those resources go toward.

Now, many of the people who issue those community grants have been let go.

“That office within HUD that issues it, that currently has 900 plus employees and as far as we’ve seen, there are plans to cut it down to 150 employees, which is almost an 84% cut,” Zhu said.

In spite of this challenging and uncertain time, Zhu said he’s most concerned about the residents he looked forward to serving.

“Honestly, I am much more bummed about the state of the country and being removed before I could even have a chance to really do my part for my compatriots, me fellow Chicagoans,” Zhu said.

Naturally, Lennon feels overwhelmed but said she’s grateful for her support system.

“I’ve learned that more than ever that it’s like the people around us who can lift us up, and I want to be mindful about what I can be doing,” Lennon said.