Shelter seeks volunteers to help with Section 8 housing application clinics

Volunteers are needed to help the Friendship Shelter assist residents interested in applying for the Orange County Housing Authority Section 8 waiting list.

Training will be held Friday and Saturday, and volunteers will be assigned shifts to work during the application window of Feb. 16 to 25, according to a news release from the shelter.

The Section 8 waiting list is the only chance for low-income families, seniors and those with disabilities to get a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. There are a limited number of vouchers, and many people apply once the application process is open. The last time the waiting list was opened was November 2005, according to Karen Roper of Orange County Community Services.

“A Section 8 Housing Voucher is, for many of the people Friendship Shelter serves, the permanent solution they need in order to secure stable, permanent housing,” the shelter’s associate executive director Mark Miller said in a statement. “Friendship Shelter is pulling out all the stops to ensure we are doing everything we can and employing every resource we can marshal to ensure that all who qualify have the opportunity to apply for this life-changing assistance.”

Application clinics will be held at the Alternative Sleeping Location, Bridge Hall at Neighborhood Congregational Church, and the Friendship Shelter.

Those interested in volunteering should call outreach manager Taylor Mathieson at (949) 494-6928 ext. 16 or email talyorm@fsi.occoxmail.com.

For more information about the application clinics, call the shelter at (949) 494-6928.

—Kelly Parker

Twitter: @KellyParkerTCN