U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a governmental organization whose stated mission is to "increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination." HUD was formed in 1965 after the passing of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act. It was an attempt to stem the urban decay of the 1960s and a part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society.

President-Elect Barack Obama named Shaun Donovan as the secretary of HUD on December 13, 2008. Today, the agency focuses on stuff like affordable housing, promoting home-ownership, and revitalizing the nation's primary urban centers.

• 1965: HUD is formed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act
• 1970: Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 establishes Federal Experimental Housing Allowance Program and Community Development Corporation
• 1975: Carla A. Hills appointed HUD Secretary
• 1988: HUD takes on the housing needs of Native American tribes
• 1989: Jack F. Kemp appointed HUD Secretary
• 1998: Congress approves housings reforms to reduce race, age, and income discrimination and increases the availability of subsidized housing for very poor families

Housing and Urban Development is something of a vague moniker, so if you don't really know what that means, you certainly aren't alone. In fact, HUD has a variety of different areas of focus. One of the more popular ones these days is avoiding foreclosure: HUD experts help individual tax-payers with counseling and by helping them deal with their lender, so that their houses aren't repossessed.

HUD also focuses on environmental friendly measures, through helping voters lower their energy output (and consequently their energy bills), and also imposing environmental review requirements on HUD projects.

HUD is also a famous grant-giver, and grants to cities, civic groups, or to individuals are among the most popular ways through which HUD encourages community development, urban renewal, and other public-friendly initiatives. To take but one example, HUD has doled out tens of millions in support of healthy aging and elderly care programs in Virginia in the past decade. http://www.hud.gov/local/va/news/recentvagrants.cfm

The most famous HUD program is Section 8, a government-subsidy program that provides low-income family with money for housing. The program was established in 1974, and has put millions of people in their own home over its almost four decades of existence.