State Rep. Jeanne McNeill, D-Lehigh, recently announced that $250,000 in funding has been awarded to the Lehigh Valley Regional Homeless Advisory Board for a housing program, via the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement fund.

“This funding announcement could not have come at a better time,” McNeill said. “There is a growing and most urgent need for affordable housing.”

McNeill said the fund is managed by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. The funding will be used as follows:

PHARE funding will provide rehab of 11 owner-occupied units for households, homeless prevention for 110 households, rapid rehousing for 60 households and homeownership counseling for 50 prospective first-time homebuyers.

McNeill said funding for the PHARE program comes from three main sources.

Since 2012, the program has received a portion of the impact fees collected from natural gas companies operating in the state with the goal of addressing the housing shortage caused by the impact of drilling.

That is supplemented with two other funding sources: a portion of the realty transfer tax and money from the National Housing Trust Fund.