Hoping for Section 8 Vouchers, Ending Up With Battle Scars

Here's the scene: across the country thousands of people are trying to get something that everyone else wants. There are long lines, fights breaking out, people being turned away. Friends and family have come along to provide support and a cool drink in the stifling heat. Supplies are limited and demand is sky high. So what is it that all these people want but only a select few will actually walk away with? Justin Bieber tickets? No, it's Section 8 housing vouchers (or, more accurately, a spot on an already years-long waiting list).

That's right. As the economy continues to falter, more and more people are in need of this vital housing assistance. Unfortunately, as the demand grows, the supply doesn't.

In East Point, Georgia, tens of thousands gathered outside the public housing offices last week in the hopes of getting on a waiting list for vouchers, as all local public housing units are currently full. Crowd members were to receive the application and then return a few days later to submit their completed forms. According to Kim Lemish, the executive director of the East Point Housing Authority, their staff gave out 13,000 applications — up from 2,400 when their waiting list first opened back in 2002.

It seems that many, if not all, of those who received and completed an application will never reach the top of the waiting list. Some won't even qualify. Many more will never receive the voucher they waited so long and worked so hard for; they may never move into affordable housing. According to reports and video, the scene turned desperate as more and more people waited longer and longer, some for up to two days while sleeping outside in the stifling heat. Watching the video and seeing the pictures, it's hard not to be outraged and confused.  We are the wealthiest country in the world. Our citizens deserve far better than this.

The scene was smaller but much the same in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where crowds lined up for a limited number of Section 8 vouchers. As in Georgia, public housing hopefuls needed to complete the application to try to qualify for a long waiting list.  There are 45 new vouchers available — but more than 2,000 applied.

In New York City, there are no lines and no mayhem. Could it be that everyone who shows up gets an application and a voucher? No, it's the exact opposite; there are no lines since, back in late 2009, the New York City Housing Authority stopped accepting applications. This is just another page in the tumultuous history book of the state of NYC housing assistance, as this cause has reported.

Regardless of your current situation, if you are in need of housing assistance in NYC, and already not part of the system, tough luck. No waiting list, no applications, no vouchers. We can only imagine the utter chaos that will ensue if and when the NYC Housing Authority lifts this ban and begins to accept applications. Our guess is that tens of thousands of people will flood the offices. (If the city wants to do it right, it should follow Chicago's lead. The Windy City ran an effective and safe application process that utilized all available technology earlier this year.)

Without changes to both the application process and the availability of affordable housing, scenes like these could become more numerous. Once again, aren't we better than this as a nation? Why must families wait in long lines for the hope of something that we should all have the right to? Must people be treated like animals looking for basic shelter from the elements? We will continue to ask these questions until someone gives us better answers. Until the day when people only wait on long lines for concert tickets, not housing.

Photo credit: James Cridland