Housing Vouchers | Street Sense Media

There are 40,000 people on DC’s housing waitlist

D.C.’s voucher waitlist is 37,000 people long, but the city government is only planning to fund 20 new vouchers for the residents on it.

Phil Mendelson sits in a chair in front of a brown curtain in the D.C. Council chambers.

Council adds 400 housing vouchers to budget in first vote

The D.C. Council took the first vote on next year’s budget, adding money for 400 housing vouchers and an expansion of the earned income tax credit.

Despite rule change, DCHA is not allowing identity self-certification

After passing a resolution to allow people applying for vouchers to self-certify their identity, DCHA released regulatory guidance that banned that practice.

Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks into a microphone

What housing advocates want from the budget

Housing advocates are asking the council for increased investment for tenant-based vouchers and housing repairs and to increase accountability for next year’s budget.

Housing hassles

Queenie Featherstone writes an acrostic poem and an accompanying statement about housing vouchers.

Photo of the John A. Wilson building in Washington, D.C.

DC passes new protections for voucher holders

D.C.’s comprehensive tenant protections bill includes new provisions to prevent discrimination against voucher holders.

I think the city’s voucher system will work

Marcus Green reflects on his experience with vouchers.

A sign for DCHA in front of the white building that houses the department

DCHA allows self-certification for housing vouchers amidst series of demands from homeless service providers

The D.C. Housing Authority took the first step to allow self-certification for housing vouchers, while advocates continue to push for improved communication so applicants experiencing homelessness can be matched with housing faster, and standardize processes to ease the burden on tenants and housing providers.

Aldo Richardson stands in front of a Fairmont hotel also working as a PEP-V hotel

Aldo Richardson, homeless veteran, moves into PEP-V hotel with hope for permanent supportive housing

The CARE pilot program closes four of the largest encampments in D.C. The program offers housing for one year to those who made the by-name list. Those not on the list were forced to relocate. Aldo Richardson was one of the many who needed to relocate to New Jersey and O Street park encampment in hopes of qualifying for housing.

"For Rent" sign in the front yard of a rowhouse

FAQ: How to apply for housing in DC and what to expect

How does a homeless person in Washington, D.C. find housing? Here’s what you should know about a house application & process for finding housing.

A housed resident speaks with Chandra Brown, a homeless woman that interrupted Mayor Bowser's Franklin Park press conference.

“Black lives are going to hell,” says resident flipping off DC’s Mayor

D.C. opened a renovated Franklin Park in September. An unhoused resident pushed out of a nearby encampment interrupted the ceremony & was quickly whisked away.

Photo of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development office building in Washington, D.C.

A pilot program offering “flexible subsidies” to DC renters shows promise, a report says

D.C.’s pilot program to try giving families a smaller, more flexible rent subsidy than a standard voucher shows promise, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Photo of an apartment building in Washington DC

D.C. Council risks homelessness emergency if it doesn’t support those who suffered during the public health emergency

Amber W. Harding, an attorney for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, shares opinions on what DC must do to confront upcoming housing crises as COVID programs expire.

Appreciation

Artist/Vendor Abel Putu provides some personal updates to readers and some special messages of thanks.

Photo of Street Sense artist and vendor Sheila White wearing her UDC gear.

My biggest challenge

Artist and vendor Sheila White shares her greatest personal struggle and her concern that many others in the area will be affected by homelessness once pandemic-related eviction prohibitions expire.

Unique settlement creates hope for change to rampant housing discrimination in DC

A source-of-income lawsuit against Bozzuto Management results in a unique settlement with broad implication for future discrimination cases related to housing subsidies

DC reduces barriers to obtaining an ID during the pandemic for people experiencing homelessness. Will it continue?

Months-long wait times for DMV appointments can seem daunting to people experiencing homelessness trying to get IDs — but there is an expedited process that cuts the wait to mere weeks.

Overloaded with landlords and real-estate developers, Bowser’s “Saving DC’s Rental Housing Market Strike Force” leaves out marginalized tenant voices

Tenant voices were conspicuously absent from the deliberation on recommendations that will affect the District’s most vulnerable renters’ ability to remain housed through the end of the pandemic and long after.

Photo showing the brick exterior of an apartment building.

DC failed to spend $14 million reserved for housing vouchers last year

DC was too slow to spend money that could have paid for 520 permanent supportive housing vouchers. These losses are permanent because funds appropriated for housing vouchers largely do not roll over.

Photo displays a tiny home village in Washington, DC.

Individual apartments or single-room occupancies?

Public housing programs fall far too short when it comes not just to housing the homeless in the first place, but at retaining housing once gotten

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