For the thousands of residents who signed up for a prime spot on the waiting list for federally subsidized Section 8 housing vouchers, the wait will likely be excruciatingly long. Only 200 to 300 vouchers will be issued within the first year.
The mere fact that 10,665 voucher applications were filed during a recent three-day window shows just how grim the state’s housing situation has become.
Even more staggering is that it’s the first time in 10 years that the Hawaii Public Housing Authority (HPHA) has opened the waiting list — which in 2006 swelled to 15,000 applications.
It’s taken nearly a decade to clear that backlog, and the state had expected 12,000 applications during the application period that ended Thursday. Within seven hours of opening up the Section 8 wait list, about 2,500 people had signed up, said Scott Morishige, the governor’s coordinator on homelessness.
“There’s definitely a huge need in the community,” he said.
Talk about understatement.
Applicants will need plenty of patience, unfortunately. Some must endure years-long waits for their vouchers, and when a voucher is finally received, the pause button is pushed yet again.
For example, in 2014 the state housing agency gave out 300 vouchers to the remaining people on the 2006 waiting list. As of October 2015, more than half of the families were still in search of housing. Today, the last 29 households with vouchers remain in the process of seeking housing.
The average value of each voucher is about $1,000 a month, which can open up doors for those who simply can’t afford housing. Priority rightly was given to the homeless, victims of domestic abuse and individuals and families involuntarily displaced from their homes.
The city also operates a Housing Choice Voucher Program that is completely separate from the HPHA and serves approximately 3,600 families, said city Department of Community Services Director Gary Nakata. The city opened its waitlist for seven days in May 2014 with an online application process that generated 14,351 applicants, and 3,100 names were randomly selected to fill the city’s current waitlist.
With so many individuals and families applying for housing vouchers, it becomes especially critical to develop affordable rentals.
Gov. David Ige said increasing housing is the major focus of his administration — but progress needs to come quicker and be more evident than it has been.
The demand for affordable units, clearly, overwhelms supply. Officials must work swiftly to optimize $91 million that was allocated in this year’s Legislature aimed at subsidizing development of affordable units via the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund, Rental Housing Revolving Fund and state conveyance tax proceeds.
The time also is overdue to start making substance out of the symbolic: A 2016 legislative bill was signed into law with the goal to develop or vest to develop at least 22,500 rental housing units by the end of 2026. That’s a mere decade away, even as the obvious need exists today.
One effort that seems to be gaining traction is housing officials’ push to encourage more landlords to accept Section 8 housing vouchers. Currently about 1,000 landlords participate in the program, a 375 percent increase over the last decade, which is significant.
Morishige, ever the optimist, said pieces of the housing/homelessness puzzle are starting to come together, referencing the vouchers and the state’s support network for landlords accepting Section 8 tenants and other initiatives.
“It’s really strategic that we’re bringing all these resources together, … all to get people into permanent housing as soon as possible.”
“As soon as possible,” however, likely means years. Moving the needle significantly will come only when there is an abundance of affordable housing stock — and that can’t come soon enough.
