Photo by George Ballis

In 1969, a group of concerned rural community activists, public officials, and non-profit developers formed the National Rural Housing Coalition (NRHC) to fight for better housing and community facilities for low-income rural people. Today, NRHC is still on the job in the nation's capital promoting and defending the principle that rural people have the right, regardless of income, to a decent place to live or an affordable home, clean drinking water, and basic community services.

The Need - Needs grow while funding lags

The 1990 U.S. Census found that more than 2.5 million rural Americans live in substandard housing. This number includes 1 million people who live in housing without kitchen or bathroom facilities and 1.5 million who live in overcrowded conditions. In the Lower Mississippi Delta, for example, 81% or almost 50,000 rural people live in homes without complete plumbing; 80,000 live in crowded conditions(1) which in many rural areas is a form of homelessness.

Additionally, rural renters are more than twice as likely to live in substandard housing as people who own their homes. Rural renters are also more likely than homeowners to suffer from cost overburden, paying between 30 and sometimes more than 50% of their incomes just for housing.

NRHC's Role - An Effective Advocate

National Rural Housing Coalition works to focus policy makers on the needs of rural areas by direct advocacy and by coordinating a network of rural housing advocates around the nation. NRHC sponsors regular conferences at which specific policies and legislative proposals are developed. Over the years, NRHC has worked to:

    • design new programs and improve existing programs to better serve the rural poor. For example, NRHC successfully fought for programs that would provide rental assistance, to preserve rental housing units for low-income families, to promote self-help housing, and for new funding for home repair.

    • ensure adequate funding levels for rural housing programs. Although funding today is by no means adequate, NRHC has played a key role in defending rural housing programs against the even more extreme cuts suffered by many other social programs.

    • promote a non-profit delivery system for rural housing and community development programs. NRHC led the fight to increase funding for self-help housing grants, farm worker housing programs, and rural community assistance programs administered by non-profits.

Financial Support

National Rural Housing Coalition is supported entirely by donations, contributions and subscriptions. Four funds have been established to which organizations with special interest can contribute.

    • The Self-Help Housing Fund supports NRHC's work to assure continuation of the self-help technical assistance program of RHS.

    • The Farm Worker Housing Fund supports NRHC's work to promote better housing for migrant and seasonal farm workers.

    • The Rural Community Assistance Fund promotes reform of RHS's rural water/sewer program and improved availability of grant funds to help rural communities address their water and waste disposal problems.

    • The HUD Task Force works on important issues related programs administrated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The task force is monitoring rural participation in CDBG, HOME and Section 202, non-profit participation in rural programs, HUD funding for rural housing and community economic development and policies on regionalization and comprehensive plans.

1. Housing Assistance Council, Taking Stock of Rural Poverty and Housing for the 1990s. p.46.

National Rural Housing Coalition
1250 Eye Street, NW, Suite 902
Washington, DC 20005
nrhc@nrhcweb.org