High demand for affordable housing kept a Southwest Colorado nonprofit from opening its waiting list for federally funded housing vouchers for residents with disabilities for seven years.
But the center has now served enough people to open the list for a single day, on April 4, said Shawna Butler, housing coordinator with the Southwest Center for Independence.
“We had so many people on our wait-list, it was giving people false hope,” Butler said.
The center manages a federally funded Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers waiting list for residents with disabilities.
The number of residents who join the list April 4 will determine if the nonprofit is able to open the list again later this year, she said.
“We just don’t know how many people will show up,” she said.
When Housing Solutions for the Southwest opened its wait-list for similar vouchers, 30 people lined up before the office opened to add their names to the list.
Butler closed Southwest Center for Independence’s waiting list for the vouchers in 2012 because residents who had joined the list in 2004 were still waiting for housing.
Also, when a voucher became available, the center often could not contact people on the waiting list because so much time had elapsed since their registration that their contact information was outdated.
However, Butler said many people on the waiting list remain in the area and remain qualified for a voucher. For example, she recently contacted people in need of housing who joined the list in 2012.
“I called four people this morning, and they were all excited,” she said.
Once a resident is granted a voucher, he or she has four months to find housing. It generally takes that long for them to find a home, she said.
Butler advises residents to “look every single day and as much as they can” for housing.
Residents with disabilities can face extra challenges finding homes because they may need homes that are accessible and along bus routes, said Martha Mason, executive director of the nonprofit.
Vouchers are sometimes returned if residents can’t find housing, but that’s been less common since the rent cap paid through the voucher has been slowly increasing, Butler said. In November, the rent cap was increased to $950 for a one-bedroom home.
A voucher becomes available when an existing voucher holder dies, starts earning more income or moves in with family members, among other changes in circumstances, Mason said.
To request a waiting list application, call the Southwest Center for Independence at 259-1672 or pick up one at 3473 Main Ave, No. 23, in Durango. Applications can be returned in person or by mail. Only applications postmarked April 4 or received in the office April 4 will be accepted.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
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