Most of the new HUD funding will be distributed to states and local governments to build, buy or rehabilitate affordable rental and owner-occupied housing for low-income families or provide them with direct rental assistance. HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research recently reported over 653,000 people experiencing homelessness in the United States in 2023. Not only is this total up 12% from 2022, but it is also the highest number of homeless people counted since the group started collecting this data in 2007.