CSH wants to thank Secretary Donovan for his leadership at HUD and the critical role he has played in increasing affordable housing for the most vulnerable populations. Donovan has been tapped to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to replace Sylvia Burwell who is headed to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Secretary Donovan has done exceptional work at HUD and will be a great ally to have at OMB when it comes to creating a budget and implementing policies that affect the most vulnerable populations.
During his tenure as Secretary of HUD, Donovan has made significant changes to the way agency does business, created a new platform to help preserve existing affordable rental housing and been extremely effective in reducing chronic homelessness. Coming from HPD in New York City, Donovan understands the challenges that local communities face and the difficulties providers and developers face when financing affordable rental housing. Further, he has seen first hand how the different systems-housing, healthcare, criminal justice, child-welfare-all intersect and by working together to create comprehensive solutions, communities can save money, better serve vulnerable individuals and families. . He brought this knowledge to HUD and helped the agency become more innovative and more efficient.
Under his leadership, Donovan advanced the principle that supportive housing is an effective platform for improving life outcomes for individuals and families. During his tenure at HUD chronic homelessness across the country has been reduced by 16% and the number of permanent supportive housing units to house chronic homeless has continued to grow. He has encouraged homeless providers to work with public housing authorities, has helped bridge the gap between healthcare and housing providers and has emphasized housing integration for all populations. While CSH is sad to see Donovan leave HUD, we look forward to continuing to work with him in his new post to craft evidence-based, cross-sectional policies to create more permanent supportive affordable housing and look forward to working with Mayor Castro at HUD to continue the trend of providing stable housing for the most vulnerable populations.
