Rush On to Secure Housing Vouchers

Thousands of Orange County residents rushed to apply for federal Section 8 housing assistance Friday, as county officials opened the program’s waiting list for the first time in two years.

Applicants lined up at municipal buildings and libraries long before they opened, in hopes that being early would increase the chance of getting a voucher in a county where affordable housing is scarce.

“We had a guy here at 4:30 a.m.,” said Ken Domer, spokesman for the county Housing and Community Development Department. “When we told him he didn’t have to do that, he was a little disgusted with himself.”

The applicants will be ranked on a variety of factors, Domer said. Veterans get top priority, followed by seniors, the disabled and working families. Applications will be available all month.

County officials originally said they might receive up to 25,000 applications, but based on Friday’s turnout, they now expect more. Concerned that the 35,000 forms they had printed would run out, officials ordered an additional 15,000.

To be eligible for vouchers, applicants cannot make more than 50% of the median income for Orange County. For single people, that is $25,800 a year. For a family of four, it is $36,850.

Most of those who qualify for assistance, however, will not see a voucher for some time.

In a typical month, only about 200 of the county’s 7,833 vouchers become available. There are separate voucher programs for residents of Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, which have their own housing authorities.

“I heard this would be tough, but we are going to try,” said Carmen Venegas, 35, of Anaheim. Venegas is a single mother of three who worked with computers before she injured her arm. Now she is trying to make it on disability payments and arranging flowers on the side. She was among the more than 1,200 people who had picked up applications at Westminster City Hall by noon Friday.

“When I got here at 7:05, there were 100 people in line already,” said Jennifer Roethlisberger, a housing specialist with the city. She opened the doors half an hour later and people continued to flood in throughout the day. Signs in English and Vietnamese explained the application process.

Domer cautioned that with so many people getting on the waiting list this time around, it could be as long as four years before it is opened again.

“Your odds of getting a voucher are obviously much better if you are on that list,” he said. “That’s why we are encouraging anybody who thinks they might be eligible to get on it.”