By Ashleigh Fields
AFRO Assistant Editor
afields@afro.com
Marcia Fudge waves as she takes the stage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 25, 2016. Fudge has led the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development since 2020, and plans to leave the position on March 22, 2024. Credit: AP Photo / Paul Sancya
Former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge announced her departure from the White House cabinet on March 11 in an email. The Secretary leaves behind an array of inclusive policies and progressive legislation in her wake. While serving in the position for over four years, Fudge developed a healthy understanding of the needs of average Americans.
She has been adamant about securing fair housing standards in individual evaluations.
“If you have paid your rent on time for the past 12 months we believe you are creditworthy,” Fudge shared on a press call to announce housing accomplishments last week. “We have changed the way we calculate student loan debt or evaluate it in our underwriting process.”
She later cited that over 730,000 Black and Latino families were brought in for a loan or refinanced through the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which resulted in over two million people in their homes. Although Fudge admitted the Department was seeing “modest gains” as it relates to Black home ownership specifically.
“We’ve built and repaired more than 500 units of affordable housing but it’s still not enough as we are 3 million units short,” said Fudge. “And I still have an issue with lead.”
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated that 89 percent of the 34.6 million homes with lead paint were built before 1978. Children face significant health risks including a delay in development, brain damage and behavioral problems when exposed to lead at an early age.
“This issue typically affects people who are poorer, who live in inner cities, who are older, which happens to be Black and Brown people,” Fudge stated.
Amidst other areas of growth she mentioned helping teens aging out of foster care, discrimination in the home appraisal processes and families in need of long term disaster relief funding. Fudge’s expected leave date is March 22 and Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman is expected to step up in her absence. However, many are still surprised by her decision to depart.
“When I took office, we inherited a broken housing system, with fair housing and civil rights protections badly dismantled under the prior administration,” Biden released in a statement. “On day one, Marcia got to work rebuilding the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and over the past three years she has been a strong voice for expanding efforts to build generational wealth through homeownership and lowering costs and promoting fairness for America’s renters.”
Fudge’s resignation was unexpected as only eight months remain before the November presidential election. She shared she was leaving with “mixed emotions” and looking forward to transitioning into life as a “private citizen.”
Those closest to her in the political realm have shared that she will be missed. Heads of other HUD adjacent and partner organizations agree.
“For decades, Secretary Fudge served the people of Ohio as Mayor of Warrensville Heights and then as a Member of Congress representing Ohio’s 11th Congressional District. As Chair of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations, Congresswoman Fudge worked to defend families across the country from cruel and unnecessary cuts to SNAP and other vital programs and services,” read a statement from the Congressional Black Caucus’s leadership. “Secretary Fudge has served our nation honorably and we are better for her unparalleled leadership and commitment to service. We wish her the very best on her next steps.”
In addition to serving as a leader of the Department, she served as a past national president for the social action organization, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority from 1996 to 2000.
“As a champion of racial equity, Secretary Fudge has tirelessly advocated policies to eliminate systemic housing discrimination and reduce the racial wealth gap, a cause also championed by NAREB,” wrote Courtney Johnson Rose, president of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers. “Secretary Fudge has repeatedly committed to making the American dream of homeownership a reality for all citizens.”
