HumanGood awarded $26.48 million to fund ‘green’ efforts at 3 communities

Three of HumanGood’s affordable senior housing communities have received a total of $26.48 million in grants under the first wave of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program.

“HumanGood is honored to have three of its Philadelphia communities receive this award in its first wave,” Vidhi Anderson, vice president of development at HumanGood, said in a press release. 

The funds were awarded to Jackson Place, Riverside Presbyterian Apartments and Tioga Presbyterian Apartments. Those were the only properties in Pennsylvania among 19 US total properties to receive comprehensive awards from HUD, HumanGood noted.

“We look forward to working with HUD and our development and construction teams to focus on innovative ways to provide resources to our communities and residents while adapting to the ever-changing climate they are in,” Anderson said.

HUD awarded the first wave of GRRP monies last month, with $173.9 million in new loans and grants.

Through the GRRP, funds are available to help Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program and other multifamily housing owners improve energy or water efficiency; enhance indoor air quality or sustainability; and implement the use of zero-emission electricity generation, low-emission building materials and energy storage or building electrification strategies.

Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge, previously called the GRRP funding disbursement “a tremendous step forward toward ensuring that low-income older adults are safe and protected as threats from climate change escalate.”

GRRP is the first HUD program that simultaneously invests in energy and water efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, clean-energy generation and climate resilience strategies in multifamily housing, according to HUD. 

“I am deeply proud of our HUD team for getting hundreds of millions of dollars from the president’s Inflation Reduction Act on the street through the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program. Together, we are directing these funds to the people we serve, and ensuring thousands of American families can live in more resilient, efficient and affordable communities,” HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge stated.