EDEN will soon open waitlist for housing voucher program
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Low-income Northeast Ohio residents with disabilities will soon have the opportunity to apply for a life-changing housing subsidy.
Driving the news: Nonprofit Emerald Development and Economic Network (EDEN) will open its waitlist for the Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Program from Nov. 13-15.
- The last time it did so, in 2019, more than 6,000 people applied for only a few hundred spots.
Why it matters: Given the economic precarity of the pandemic and its aftermath, EDEN believes the need for affordable housing is even more critical than before.
Details: The Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Program is a subset of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's umbrella housing choice voucher program, formerly known as Section 8, which provides rental assistance to low-income families, the elderly and the disabled.
- The Mainstream vouchers administered by EDEN are for households that fall below 80% of the area median income — that's about $72,000 for a family of four — with at least one adult with a documented disability, including both physical and mental impairments.
How it works: Those with a housing voucher pay 30% of their income toward rent in units that meet HUD's fair-market rent standards. The voucher covers the rest.
Between the lines: For many of the applicants living with severe physical or cognitive disabilities, their income may be close to zero.
- Many applicants have experienced housing insecurity and/or homelessness. The goal of the voucher is to help them afford "decent, safe and sanitary housing in the private market," says EDEN.
By the numbers: EDEN's director of rental assistance, Jessie Beck, tells Axios the nonprofit administers 370 vouchers — which are all currently in use — thanks to an infusion of HUD funding in 2019.
- The existing waitlist has been exhausted, she says. They're preparing a new waitlist with updated information so they have residents ready once vouchers become available.
What's next: As in 2019, EDEN will use a random number generator to select 350 applicants for the waitlist. Applicants will be notified by Dec. 1 if they've been selected and then they will be alerted when a voucher becomes available.
The bottom line: "Our goal is to inform every possible resident of Northeast Ohio who might be eligible for the program of this opportunity," EDEN's executive director Elaine Gimmel said in a statement.
- Applications will be available online beginning 12:01am Nov. 13.