Seven communities in the Hudson Valley are among 20 statewide up to receive new funding to help address housing insecurity.

The communities include the village of Croton-on-Hudson, the city of Kingston, the city of New Rochelle, the city of Newburgh, the city of Poughkeepsie, the town of Red Hook and the city of White Plains.

Those communities are now certified by Gov. Kathy Hochul as some of the state's first certification Pro-Housing Communities, a designation recognizing their commitment to housing growth.

The designation of Pro-Housing Communities gives them priority consideration over other localities for up to $650 million in available state discretionary funding.

Leaders from across the state, including city of Kingston Mayor Steve Noble, made the trip to Albany Wednesday to discuss the importance of ensuring an adequate housing supply in their municipalities.

"When we look at the growth of the Hudson Valley and all the opportunities that we have housing is the first thing that everyone points to, as this is the stopping point, this is the bottle neck, it's housing," Noble said.

More than 60 other municipalities statewide have started the application process to be recognized as Pro-Housing Communities. Link to application: https://hcr.ny.gov/pro-housing-community-program