New Maryland Plumbing Poverty Program to Serve Low-Income Households Without Indoor Plumbing
Applications for the program will open April 17
New Carrollton, MD (April 11, 2025) – The Maryland Affordable Housing Trust (MAHT) today announced the new Plumbing Poverty Program, which provides funding to resolve issues related to plumbing poverty that impact the quality of life for individuals and families. Applications for the new program will open April 17.
“Access to running water is not a given. Households with limited or no access to running water not only impact the health of their residents, but they impact the health of their communities,” said Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day. “This new program through the Maryland Affordable Housing Trust presents an opportunity for local governments and nonprofit partners to join in our efforts to ensure that all Marylanders can thrive in safe, dignified housing, no matter their income level.”
The grant program gives support to scattered site owner-occupied housing rehabilitation plumbing activities for households with incomes of less than 50% of the greater of the statewide or area median income, adjusted for household size. Preference is given to households with incomes of less than 30% of the greater of the statewide or area median income, adjusted for household size.
This two-year grant initiative will support non-profit organizations, county and local government agencies by providing additional funding resources to enhance already established scattered site owner-occupied housing plumbing rehabilitation programs in their service areas. The maximum grant award amount is $300,000.
“The Maryland Affordable Housing Trust (MAHT) Board of Trustees is pleased to offer this new funding opportunity as another strategy to help county/local governments and non-profit community development organizations implement affordable housing projects that serve Marylanders living in rural, suburban, and urban communities,” said Maryland Affordable Housing Trust Board of Trustees Chair, Alice G. Pinderhughes. “The MAHT Plumbing Poverty Program will play an important role to address issues of housing affordability and safe water access for low-income households. This new initiative aligns well with MAHT’s goal to promote programs that meet the unmet demand and make affordable housing more available throughout the State of Maryland.”
The Maryland General Assembly created the Maryland Affordable Housing Trust in 1992 to make affordable housing more available throughout the State of Maryland. The Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees and staffed by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. The Maryland Affordable Housing Trust promotes affordable housing for households earning less than 50% of area or Statewide median income by funding operating expenses of affordable housing developments, funding capital costs of rental and ownership housing, providing financial assistance for nonprofit-developer capacity building and additional activities.
The Maryland Affordable Housing Trust will host a virtual informational webinar for the Plumbing Poverty Program Application Competition Round on April 16, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. To participate, please send an RSVP to MAHT.DHCD@maryland.gov. You must RSVP to receive information on how to access the webinar.
Applications will open April 17, 2025 and are due May 23, 2025. The program guidelines and application package will be made available on the Maryland Affordable Housing Trust webpage on April 17.
For more information about the Maryland Affordable Housing Trust, visit the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s website.
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