In Columbus, thousands in need of Section 8 housing could wait years: What's going on?

Cyan Pride had to stop herself from telling everyone she saw about her good news when she recently learned she received a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher.

"I'm a really expressive person," she said, grinning. "I talk a lot."

The 23-year-old had been living in the YWCA Family Center shelter with her 7-year-old son, Cy'Meir Pride, for a few weeks when she found out late last year that she could get a voucher to help pay for housing — potentially "for life." (That's as long as her income remains within program limits, and she meets all program obligations.)

She called the moment life changing.

“I was so happy,” said Pride, who didn't know she was eligible for a voucher and was going to try to afford an apartment on her own or with temporary help from the nonprofit Home for Families. "I was excited. I wanted to tell everybody."

She said she was evicted from her apartment last year because she was late on rent and wasn't given the opportunity to pay it late.

Then, in early February, Pride learned that she was getting a voucher after three months at the shelter and about two months of waiting. She qualified so soon because she has lupus, a disease where the body's defense system attacks healthy cells and tissues, causing damage to many parts of the body. She hopes to move into her new apartment this month.

But for many other people in Franklin County waiting on vouchers it can be a long road.

There are 34,000 county residents on the waiting list, and the longest person has been on the list since Sept. 7, 2015, according to Aaron Schopp, a Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) spokesman.

The fact that someone has been on the waitlist for nearly nine years "highlights the significant demand for housing vouchers and the challenges in meeting this need due to limited resources," Schopp said.

CMHA said it doesn't record how many people are on the waiting list at any given point in time or what the average wait time is. But a Columbus Dispatch article from February 2023 stated that the waiting list was 26,000 applications long at that point, with an average wait time of three years.

What are Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers?

The Housing Choice Voucher program is the federal government's program to assist low-income families, older adults and disabled people with affording safe and sanitary housing through private landlords. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gives funds for the program to local public housing agencies like CMHA.

Once someone gets a voucher from CMHA, they have 120 days to find housing that meets the program requirements and a landlord willing to accept the voucher. If needed, they can get an additional 120 days to find a place as well as housing location assistance from CMHA.

Last year, about 50% of the people, or 2,045 of the 4,100 people who received a Section 8 voucher from CMHA, were successful in finding a landlord willing to take the voucher.

Voucher holders pay a third of their income, and the government pays the landlord the rest in rent.

Who qualifies for Section 8?

To qualify for a voucher, households must earn less than 50% of the local median income, which is $44,650 for a family of three in Greater Columbus.

A family's eligibility is determined by agencies like CMHA based on their income and family size, according to the federal government.

CMHA and other public housing agencies must give 75% of its vouchers to people whose incomes don't top 30% of the area median income, which is $26,800 for a family of three in Columbus. CMHA labels families with incomes below 30% as a "priority."

How many vouchers are there in Greater Columbus?

Last year, 13,357 people had vouchers in the area, and CMHA anticipates the number of total vouchers increasing to around 14,500 this year, Schopp said.

Of the total vouchers used last year, 3,611 were what are known as "project-based vouchers" and are used to offer housing to people in communities like the recently opened Harriet's Hope for human trafficking survivors.

Despite a suspected increase in vouchers, the need for affordable housing far outweighs the availability of vouchers and homes.

An Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio study released in October found that 52,000 households in Franklin County spend more than half their income on housing.

Challenges with the voucher system in Franklin County

A Columbus Dispatch investigation published in February 2023 found a myriad of issues with CMHA's management of the federal voucher program after it outsourced administration of it to CGI Federal Inc., a multinational IT and business consulting corporation, in 2022.

CGI was terminating hundreds of vouchers, some erroneously, and there were long waits for apartments to be inspected by the corporation before voucher holders could move in, among other issues.

Donna Mayer, a staff attorney for Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio, said this month that the problems with CGI have persisted.

Mayer told The Dispatch in 2023 that the housing voucher situation was the worst she had seen in 30 years.

CMHA said the problems have been resolved.

"Working together, CMHA and CGI Federal have resolved the inspections backlog that existed during 2023," according to CMHA. "CMHA is unaware of any 'ongoing issues' with the HCV program at this time."

Pride is waiting for CGI to inspect her apartment and hopes to move in before she has to pay for another month of storage on Feb. 18. Because of her illness, she said she hasn't been able to go to her job at Donato's inside the Columbus airport for a month.

How long is the wait for a voucher in Columbus?

Because of her disease and the fact that she and her son were living in a shelter, Pride moved up the list for a voucher faster than others might.

The average wait time for a voucher is hard to estimate, Schopp said, and depends on funding for the program and the way the vouchers are given out. In 2023, federal funding for vouchers to CMHA totaled $103,672,731, according to CMHA.

People are randomly chosen from the waitlist, Schopp said, but "preference points" for such things as having a disability, being unhoused or having a very low income are used to prioritize cases.

"This method is designed to address the most pressing housing needs first while striving to assist as many eligible applicants as possible," Schopp said.

Right now, about 12,800 people have Section 8 vouchers locally, Schopp said, which is a decrease from last year’s number of 13,357. The agency is currently issuing vouchers, he said.

“These figures underscore our ongoing efforts to reach as many eligible families as possible within our funding capabilities,” he said in an email. “This is also due to increased rents in Franklin County as well as a typical fluctuation of people entering and leaving the program."

How to get on — and stay on — the waitlist

There is a significant need for affordable housing in the city and there is no guarantee that people in need will get a voucher, housing advocates say.

At the YWCA Family Shelter, family advocate Milita Lee helped Pride connect with resources to get her on the list for a voucher.

Those interested can apply to join the waitlist at www.cmhanet.com and, once on the list, applicants have to log in and maintain their applications once every two years, Schopp said.

That is important to make sure that the waitlist is up to date with people in need of housing, he said. If an applicant doesn't update their information in the system every two years, their application is removed from the list, Schopp said.

The way the program works makes it a "fair and efficient system," Schopp said, and makes sure that vouchers are given to households with the most need.

Those in need of "rapid rehousing," such as those experiencing homelessness like Pride, can be given preference to get a voucher, according to the federal government. Though, preference is up to the discretion of the public housing agency.

Groups in Columbus, like Home for Families, help families like Pride's find housing while they're in shelters.

Even though most of Lee's clients at the family shelter qualify for Section 8, it can still be hard to find housing, she said.

"Section 8, they're flooded," Lee said. "Most people are on the waitlist for years before they enter a shelter, then something moves them up on the list."

Pride couldn't believe there were 34,000 people on the waiting list for a voucher.

But she's relieved that she got one and can start over with her son. Her new apartment has three bedrooms, and she's hoping to turn the extra one into an office where she can study for her associate degree in sports and exercise studies, a hair and makeup studio where she can charge for her talents or a workout room where she can put equipment to use as she works to be a personal trainer.

She teared up as she shared how being at the shelter humbled her.

"Me getting this new place, I honestly feel like it's a fresh start. … I'm so excited to start this new journey," she said.

dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Thousands in Columbus are waiting for affordable, Section 8 housing