Following more than a year of advocacy by LeadingAge, an appeals court ruled to protect the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program (GRRP), which funds preservation projects for affordable housing communities located in climate-vulnerable areas.

The court order blocks the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from freezing the congressionally-approved investments in housing communities assisted through HUD’s Multifamily Housing programs in dire need of energy efficiency or climate resilient upgrades.

The August 7, 2026 ruling upholds a previous preliminary order issued by the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island, which LeadingAge had also supported. The GRRP was established through the Infrastructure and Jobs Act in 2021 and funded critical housing preservation projects through 270 awards nationwide, including approximately 50 awards to LeadingAge housing provider members serving older adults with low incomes.

In early 2025, however, the Trump administration ordered a freeze on the funding for the already-issued awards, despite the fact that the funds had been legally obligated to awardees. Following a preliminary injunction on the freeze in 2025, LeadingAge worked with our housing members to restart their preservation projects under new guidance from HUD that altered but continued the GRRP; the decision by the appeals court permanently protects the program, pending further appeal by the Trump administration.

LeadingAge applauds the work of Democracy Forward, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of nonprofit groups, to protect the critical program and safeguard the congressionally-designated funding awards.