CONTACT: Mariah McGough, mariah@vocal-ny.org 

WITH RECORD NUMBER OF SECTION 8 APPLICANTS, VOCAL-NY DECRIES FAILURE OF NY STATE LEADERSHIP IN ADDRESSING THE HOUSING & HOMELESSNESS CRISIS

NEW YORK — In response to more than 630,000 applicants applying for Section 8 housing in a one-week period, VOCAL-NY released the following statement, attributable to Milton Perez, a leader with VOCAL-NY’s Homelessness Union:

“After allowing housing across our city to become increasingly unaffordable for decades, it should surprise no one the high volume of applicants that have joined the Section 8 Waiting list in just one week. It is imperative that we not let the size of that number reduce people to a statistic; this list represents nearly one million New Yorkers struggling with rent burden, at risk of eviction, and experiencing homelessness. 

Homelessness is not limited to the five boroughs — cities across the state, like Rochester and New Rochelle, are commencing their application processes. Our leaders in Albany must recognize this mad rush to join this waiting list as a wake-up call. New York needs a meaningful contribution toward solving its homelessness crisis by passing and funding the Housing Access Voucher Program and building statewide permanent affordable housing for the more than 100,000 Homeless New Yorkers across the state. We must aspirationally and aggressively build affordable housing and reduce vacancies in our housing stock to reduce the shelter count to zero.”

BACKGROUND:

In New York City, less than half of the people who join the waiting list will receive a voucher, and the ratio is even worse outside the five boroughs. Cities like Rochester have shown time and time again that they need these vouchers and the ability to get people housed with them, yet as few as 4,000 people will get Section 8 out of 20,000 applicants. The most recent data from the federal government shows how misguided it is to view homelessness as a New York City issue, as the number of unhoused people has increased across the state.  

Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) is a part of VOCAL-NY’s 2024 Legislative Platform. HAVP is a state-funded rental assistance program that dedicates at least 50% of the program’s vouchers administered through public housing authorities to help homeless New Yorkers across the state find stable housing. The rest of the program’s vouchers will go towards eviction prevention for tenants at risk of becoming homeless. If funded at 1 billion dollars, it would create enough vouchers to give everyone currently in shelter access to a market-rate rental subsidy and prevent thousands of evictions a year.

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