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October 16, 1999
On October 16, 1999 more than 10,000 volunteers in 156 cities across the country participated in Raise the Roof Day - the first national housing day. Under Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo's leadership, approximately 1,800 houses and apartments in bad condition were repaired and transformed into safe and decent housing for those in need.
Raise the Roof Day created a partnership between HUD, local governments, non-profit groups and businesses to organize volunteers to repair deteriorated and often vacant housing and to build new housing. These groups will continue working together to make more housing available to families in need.
Raise the Roof Day was a rousing success - take a look at what happened across the country. While we live at a time of record economic strength, a record number of people are facing an affordable housing or home ownership crisis. There are still a record 5.3 million households with worst case housing needs, and two million units in need of major repairs. Despite a record home ownership rate, home ownership for minorities and in cities still lags behind. Raise the Roof Day showed us that there is something that we can do about this crisis. We are not helpless, powerless, either as a nation or as a community in confronting this challenge. Across the country - Raise the Roof Day celebrated the spirit of voluntarism - the spirit of community - that we need as a nation to tackle these challenges. |
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