Instead, 285 Section 8 recipients in Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook counties got an eye-opening letter from the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority, or NOHA.
The letters informed the tenants that as of July 1, they would no longer be receiving rent assistance through Section 8 vouchers, which serve the poor, elderly and disabled. The cuts to tenants come after NOHA was informed it would be receiving more than $600,000 less in needed funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In the letter sent out May 26, NOHA Executive Director Carol Snell said they hope to have the funding reinstated at the end of the year, at which time tenants who have been terminated from the program could have their Section 8 restored. But for people on very limited incomes, who relied on the subsidy for a significant portion of their rent, the rest of the year looks bleak.
Here’s what some of the affected residents told the South County Spotlight:
“I’m 62, and I’m on Social Security, and there’s no way I can pay full rent,” said one woman who receives the federal assistance and lives at the Hidden Oaks Apartments. She asked not to be identified.
The woman said she had not received a letter informing her that her rental subsidy numbered among those to be cut, though some of her neighbors had.
“Some of these people are 80 years old and don’t have a job,” she said, adding that rent at her apartment is $562 per month.
The federal subsidy is weighted per participant based on how much that person earns. In some cases, the subsidy covers more than 90 percent of the rental expense.
“I had one gentleman call me and tell me that he couldn’t afford all of the rent, and will probably be out in the street,” said Carol Snell, executive director for the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority.
According to The Daily Astorian article by Deeda Schroeder, the state HUD representative is saying the local housing authority failed to forecast correctly on the financial need.
Four years ago, when NOHA was faced with a shortfall, the state legislature drew on its resources to fill the gap. Now, with the state facing its own billion-dollar deficit, a bail-out is considered unlikely.
Mike Cook, with NeahCasa Student Family Emergency Housing in Manzanita, works with schools and low-income students in the region. He said he’s hoping people will not waste energy on placing blame, but finding a solution.
“Armed with some community outrage, our congressional representatives need to be alerted to the situation and need to do something about it. This is their stimulus package. They put this whole thing together. You can’t blame it on some little housing authority in Oregon.”
Look for more in the next edition of Street Roots.
Posted By Joanne Zuhl