LIHU‘E — In the last two years, the County Housing Agency’s Housing Choice Voucher program has been able to grow from a monthly average of around 650 to 870 households, CHA Director Adam Roversi reported this week.
LIHU‘E — In the last two years, the County Housing Agency’s Housing Choice Voucher program has been able to grow from a monthly average of around 650 to 870 households, CHA Director Adam Roversi reported this week.
And the addition of $2 million in federal dollars will help that.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing, announced that Hawai‘i will receive $4 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support the Housing Choice Voucher program earlier this week.
The grants will fund housing vouchers for families on Kaua‘i and O‘ahu.
“This funding will help more Hawai‘i families find a safe and reliable place to live,” Schatz said in a release. “Everyone should be able to afford a home, and I’ll keep fighting to expand affordable housing in Hawai‘i.”
The HCV program helps very-low-income families, the elderly and the disabled afford decent, safe and sanitary housing in the private market.
Approximately 13,000 households rely on Section 8 (HUD) housing in Hawai‘i. This funding is being distributed to housing agencies leasing a lower-than-average percentage of their authorized vouchers due to funding constraints, allowing for more vouchers to be leased.
Roversi said that the additional funds underwrite a portion of the additional rental vouchers.
