Affordable housing, long overlooked, getting federal boost


              Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan listens to Tilicia Owens talk in her basement Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Detroit. After her home flooded five times in the past year, Owens was on edge with every impending storm and ready to leave her Detroit neighborhood behind. But then the 40-year-old quality engineer heard the city had a program  that could prevent heavy rains from inundating her basement and damaging her furniture, photos, trophies and exercise equipment. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
            
              Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan speaks about his tour of resident basements Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Detroit. The city has a $15 million effort to provide flood prevention pumps and other equipment in 11 neighborhoods. Part of the money will come from the $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds which can be used by states, counties and cities to recover from the pandemic and can be used for everything from job creation to child care to housing. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
            
              FILE - President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus relief package, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. The $350 billion of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds are part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, and the money is meant to help communities recover from the pandemic and can be used for everything from job creation to child care to housing. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
            
              Tilicia Owens and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, center, listen to Detroit Water and Sewerage Department director Gary Brown in her basement Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Detroit. They discussed the city’s $15 million effort to provide flood prevention pumps and other equipment in 11 neighborhoods. Part of the money will come from the $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds which can be used by states, counties and cities to recover from the pandemic and can be used for everything from job creation to child care to housing. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)