Crowds Move Housing Vouchers-00-7234

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The weak economy has expanded the ranks of persons chasing the fixed number of federal housing vouchers, leading to a surge in apps nationwide and chaotic scenes here this week.

Sixty persons were taken to hospitals Wednesday in this Atlanta suburb after a lengthy wait and an angry mob scene in a sweltering buying goods-center parking lot. Those treated for heat magnification and injuries from scuffles were amongst 30,000 persons who had lined up for a waiting list for just 455 vouchers to cover allocation of their rent.

A good deal of camped out for almost three days in temperatures that neared 100 degrees, including pregnant women, elderly in wheelchairs and persons who drove down from New York City and Philadelphia, hoping to get on the waiting list in East Point for Housing Choice, or Section 8, vouchers.

The number of populace housing units and vouchers has fallen in the past decade, as populace housing blocks have been torn down, costs have risen and federal budgets have stayed flat. Waiting lists for vouchers in most major U. S. Cities have been closed in recent years.

Those who make it onto ...
... the lists oftentimes have to wait for eight to 10 years to receive a voucher, which is a guarantee that a local housing authority will compensate a small allocation of the tenant's rent directly to the landlord. High jobless and rising rents have made these vouchers even more of a precious commodity.

The vouchers are meant to give poor families more selections over where to live. They are oftentimes given to families who leave urban housing projects that are being demolished.
The last time officials in East Point (population 43,000) opened their waiting list—in 2002—they passed out 2,400 apps. Executive Director Kimberly Lemish said the East Point Housing Authority had expected 10,000 persons to line up this time, and it set up portable toilets, water stations and trash cans to handle the crowd. Instead, they saw three times that number—as numerous persons as have been attending Atlanta Braves home games this summer six miles away.

The housing authority opened up its waiting list because nearly all of those on the eight-year-old list had been accommodated.

"It's the economy," Ms. Lemish said. "People are desperate. You've got families living with families, and persons out of work for a long time. "

Ashley Phillips, who is pregnant, and her mother, Carolyn Teagle, who uses a cane, fought the crowd Wednesday morning to pick up Section 8 apps. Ms. Teagle said she relied on her $674 on a monthly basis disability check and was renting a room because she couldn't afford an apartment. "Once you get medicine and feed, there's just when it comes to not one thing left," she said.

Ms. Phillips, 25 years old, said she would like to work but couldn't find a occupation. "It's foolish out here," she said. "People are talking about, 'Go find a occupation,' but there are no jobs. "

Other cities that have opened waiting lists this summer have had likewise robust responses. The Roanoke, Va. , Housing Authority took 2,400 apps in June when it opened its voucher list, 600 more apps than when the list was last opened three years ago.

Roanoke has 1,600 Section 8 vouchers and all are presently being used, so no one has come off the modern waiting list, Executive Director Glenda Edwards said. "The needs are prompt, but evidently the wait is long," she said.

The Chicago Housing Authority opened its waiting list for populace-housing units for the original time in a decade earlier this summer, using an online application process. Closely 100,000 persons used the original day, and a total of 215,000 persons used within the four-week window.

The applicants are now being culled for eligibility, and 40,000 of those names are going to be chosen in a lottery for the modern waiting list, spokesman Matthew Aguilar said.

Only one in four households that are entitled for federal housing assistance receive it, said Linda Couch, senior vice president for policy at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, an advocacy group. The government provides two million vouchers nationwide.
The quantity of populace housing units and vouchers for subsidized housing has declined by more than 9% amongst 1999 and 2009, she said. "The housing world is focalized on preserving what we have," she said.

Sandra Henriquez, an assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that housing dollars had fallen in previous administrations, but that President Barack Obama with great success pushed for more housing funding in the economic stimulus package and the budget.

She said that demand has always outstripped supply in populace housing, and that the weak economy has forced persons to stay longer in populace housing, keeping down the number of slots for others in need.

By VALERIE BAUERLEIN

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