When the federal government shut down Tuesday at midnight, the Department of Housing and Urban Development posted a message online promising to “use available resources to help Americans in need.”

But its own contingency plan, released that same day, underscored the fragility of that promise — monthly subsidies for public housing and Section 8 vouchers will continue only “as long as the funding remains available.” With HUD staff furloughed and fair housing enforcement halted, families across the U.S. are left wondering how long support will last.

Other HUD-administered programs, from homeless assistance grants to USDA-backed rural housing supports, are also in limbo until Congress approves new spending.

Attempts to reach HUD’s Pittsburgh field office were met with an automated message f

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