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With March 1st right around the corner, the country is precariously looming on the edge of the $1.2 trillion dollar automatic cuts known as the Sequestration.

As we have reported for months now, domestic HIV/AIDS programs are set to lose over $538 million in funding, which will drastically reduce the quality and quantity of supports for people living with HIV/AIDS and their families.

With the cuts a mere eleven days away, it comes as no surprise that even Washington insiders are urging Congress to find a way to divert these reckless cuts. In fact, Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), recently penned a letter to Barbara Mikulski, Chair of the Committee of Appropriations, responding to earlier inquiries about how the cuts would affect HUD’s ability to provide programs and services.

Secretary Donovan stated:

Approximately 125,000 individuals and families, including elderly and disabled individuals, could lose benefits form the Housing Choice Voucher program and be at risk of becoming homeless.

More than $100,000 formerly homeless people, including veterans, would be removed from current housing and/or emergency shelter programs and putting them at high-risk for becoming homeless again.

Cuts to the HOPWA program would result in 7,300 households losing permanent and short-term housing assistance.

Donovan ends his letter by echoing Obama’s own professional stance on the Sequestration, calling these cuts “blunt and indiscriminate.”

You can read Secretary Donovan’s letter below.

HUD Letter on Sequestration by

Stay tuned for Sequestration updates.

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OUR MISSION Housing Works is a healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Our mission is to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, the provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain our efforts.

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