Latest news with #Section8HousingChoiceVouchers
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- General
- Boston Globe
In Maine, tight rental market keeps domestic violence survivors in shelters longer
Shelters are a vital resource for survivors of domestic violence, but there are not nearly enough beds statewide to meet demand. Maine has 162 beds in 11 domestic violence shelters across the state, according to a Advertisement In fiscal year 2024, shelters around the state were able to house just 14 percent of those who were eligible and looking for a bed, according to the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. Admittance rates at some regional resource centers were even lower. Partners for Peace told The Monitor they were able to admit only around 6 percent of those seeking a space; Safe Voices, which covers Oxford, Franklin and Androscoggin counties, reported similar figures. Through These Doors, in Cumberland County, was able to provide beds for just 40 of the 358 people who sought shelter with them last year, a roughly 11 percent admittance rate. While a lack of beds has long been a problem, it has gotten worse in recent years, said staff at several resource centers, as people struggling to find more permanent housing in Maine's hot housing market stay longer in shelters. Advertisement A shortage of housing units, the rising cost of rent and constraints on federal low-income housing assistance programs, particularly Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, are compounding the issue. If beds don't open up, those waiting for a space may have to stay longer in unsafe situations. The difficulty of finding housing often leaves survivors feeling trapped, said Francine Garland Stark, the executive director of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence. 'The risk of being homeless or being in a shelter for months, maybe even a year, feels like a hopeless alternative to the terrible place that they are.' Resource centers work with those they turn away to find alternate solutions. 'Sometimes, people call for shelter, and really what they need is a security deposit, or first month's rent, or a bus ticket to get to a family or friend that has a safe place to stay,' said Walker, of Partners for Peace. Advocates may also make referrals to other domestic violence or homeless shelters. Longer shelter stay lengths are a symptom of Maine's housing crisis. Maine's housing shortage was decades in the making, driven largely by the construction of too few homes. During the pandemic, the state experienced a population boom, with more than 20,000 people moving in between 2020 and 2022. The spike in demand exacerbated the housing shortage. From 2020 to 2024, the state's median home price grew by more than 50 percent. Workers' wages, however, grew by less than 33 percent. A Advertisement During the pandemic, Maine also saw calls to domestic violence hotlines become 'Everyone expected the numbers to go up during COVID-19, because people were stuck at home,' said Grace Kendall, director of development and engagement at Safe Voices. 'They were in very close proximity with their abusers.' Advocates, however, did not expect the number of cases to remain elevated after quarantine had lifted — and to continue increasing, said Kendall. 'Our numbers go up every year, but the housing market can't respond that quickly.' Rising rents have meant that housing vouchers issued through federal rental assistance programs — which several resource centers said they once relied on to move survivors out of shelters — have not gone as far as they once did. The vouchers, which subsidize between 60 and 70 percent of the cost of rent for those who qualify, are paid for by the federal government and managed by housing authorities around the state. The average cost per unit the vouchers were covering began rising sharply in 2018, Advertisement The state's housing authorities have exceeded their budgetary authority — meaning that they issued more vouchers than they had the funding to pay for — in When a housing authority goes over budget, the federal government asks it to stop issuing new vouchers. That was what happened in 2024, when several of Maine's largest housing authorities — including Portland, Westbrook, and MaineHousing, which oversees towns without a local housing authority — hit pause on issuing vouchers until enough new ones had been returned to circulation. The pause was detrimental to domestic violence resource centers. In fiscal year 2024, New Hope Midcoast helped 15 families obtain a housing voucher. This fiscal year, they have only been able to place one family, who were on the centralized waiting list prior to the pause on new vouchers. According to Scott Thistle, communications director for MaineHousing, the state housing authority resumed issuing new vouchers in April 2025, though they are not issuing as many as before the pause. MaineHousing issues one-third of the Section 8 vouchers in Maine. The remainder are issued by local housing authorities. Several other resource centers said they are no longer able to place survivors into affordable housing through the voucher program, and instead rely on other assistance programs to move them out of the shelter. Advertisement The lengthy waitlist for vouchers, full shelters, and the tight housing market have created a difficult situation for many people looking to flee an abusive relationship. 'Many survivors correctly decide that it is, in fact, safer for them to stay in an abusive relationship, because otherwise they would be living on the street,' said Kendall. This story was originally published by and distributed through a partnership with the Associated Press.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Developer opens 96 affordable housing units in Knoxville, plans to open more this year
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Housing developer DGA Residential has opened a new affordable housing community with 96 units in Knoxville and they are planning to open at least two more communities with more than 200 units combined later this year. The ribbon was cut at Riverside at Holston Wednesday morning. The new housing community has 48 two-bedroom and 48 three-bedroom units, and is located across the street from Holston River Park off of Holston Hill Road Man indicted after camera found in women's restroom at a Farragut park Construction began in December 2023, and the finishing touches are expected to be complete in May 2025. One of the buildings is complete with 20 units already occupied, and it is expected 48 more units will be occupied in the next 36. The remaining units are expected to be full by mid-June. The new development includes a clubhouse, a playground, a business center, fitness center, and on-site management. Additionally, it also offers residents a protected view of Holston River Park, which has a playground, picnic tables, a canoe launch, paved trails, two fishing piers and a two-acre PetSafe dog park. 'The proximity to downtown as well and everything going on in downtown and Old City, South Knoxville, there's just so much investment going on and opportunity in this part of town. So we're right here, kind of central to all that,' said Craig Cobb, DGA Residential's vice president of affordable housing. 'The demand here in town is off the charts, so 96 units is great. We're really proud of it, but there needs to be a lot more because if we had 1000 units today, we could probably fill 1000 units. So it's a huge need and we're glad to help' Cobb said rent for the two-bedroom units is $1,200. For the three-bedroom units, rent is set at $1,400. As it is an affordable housing community, it is also important to note that applicants can only make up to 80% of the Area Median Income, which is about $64,000 for a family of two and up to $86,000 for a family of five in Knoxville. The Riverside at Holston also accepts tenants with vouchers, such as Project-Based Vouchers and Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers. Knox County Schools to vote on price increase for meals The new affordable housing community was made possible through a $750,000 investment by the City of Knoxville through its Affordable Rental Development Fund. Cobb added that DGA Residential also got some of its financing through Tennessee Housing Development Agency and HUD finances. Cobb also shared that DGA Residential has multiple other housing communities under development, including the 184-unit Grosvenor Square community that will be opening off of Merchants Drive in August, and a 47-unit Bluegrass Landing community that will be next to Blue Grass Elementary School in June. The second, he said, would be going online in June. Additionally, the development company is also planning to break ground on at least two more housing communities later this year, with one in Hardin Valley and the other off of 5th Avenue. Cumulatively, those two communities will also have more than 200 units. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
NYCHA has issued over 2,400 Section 8 vouchers since waitlist closed
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – NYCHA has issued 2,437 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers since it reopened the waitlist to 200,000 new applicants in August. Over the summer, the city opened the Section 8 waitlist for the first time since 2009, which drew over 600,000 applicants. Only 200,000 made it onto the waitlist. NYCHA originally set a goal of issuing 1,000 vouchers a month, contingent on funding and voucher capacity. More Local News In the months since the waitlist closed, 290 vouchers have been used to rent apartments in New York City, according to a spokesperson for NYCHA. NYCHA will have to make it through the existing waitlist before reopening Section 8 for new applicants. The last waitlist took 15 years to get through. Eligibility interviews are conducted with all applicants on the waitlist to review documentation. Once eligibility is confirmed, the Housing Choice Voucher is issued and applicants have 120 days plus an automatic 60-day extension to search for an apartment. Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
