Alert: Section 8 #Housing to Open Waiting List in #Marion Cty 10.20

While not directly tied to our services, we often get questions about low income housing options for families and individuals with disabilities. In that vein, we share this announcement:

From The Indianapolis Recorder:

The Indianapolis Housing Agency (IHA) will be opening the Housing Choice Voucher waiting list – commonly known as the Section 8 waiting list – for the first time since 2004, agency officials said.

Section 8, administered by IHA, is a federal voucher program that currently helps more than 8,000 qualified low-income families in Marion County find safe and affordable housing in the private rental market. As long as their housing choice meets reasonable rent requirements, voucher holders pay no more than 30% of their monthly income toward rent and utilities. The Section 8 program subsidizes the rent balance to the property owner.

Due to the limited funding available for the program, there is a waiting list to receive a Section 8 voucher. Space on the current waiting list is limited to 6,000 new applicants, and not all applicants will make the list. As such, spots on the waiting list will be determined by a random lottery to ensure that the process is fair and equitable.

Following is information about the process:

• The application period will OPEN: Oct. 20, 12 p.m. EST.
• The application period will CLOSE: Oct. 23, 12 a.m. EST.
• Beginning Oct. 20, applications can be found online at section8indy2014.org

For those who don’t have access to Internet, IHA will notify and work with library branches, community centers and other locations with public computers to prepare them for the potential of increased traffic.

When the waiting list was last open in 2004, IHA received about 27,000 applications. The number of applications is expected to be even larger this year due to the increase in demand for affordable housing and the ease of the online application process.

“The Housing Choice Voucher is a valuable tool to help provide access to safe, affordable housing for thousands of local families,” said IHA executive director Bud Myers. “We look forward to working with our community partners to help bring this essential service to as many families as we can.

More info about Section 8 can be found here: http://www.in.gov/ihcda/2333.htm