DISCUSSION
In July 2010, the Garden Grove Housing Authority began accepting applications for its Section 8 Rental Assistance Program and created the program’s current waiting list. At that time the Housing Authority received over 17,000 applications for rental assistance. Applications from very low-income families were placed on the waiting list, with veterans and victims of domestic violence prioritized to be on top of the list. The Housing Authority spent nearly three years contacting all qualifying applicants in these two prioritized categories. They were interviewed and provided rental assistance, including nearly 400 veterans. The remaining applicants on the waiting list are very low-income families, seniors, individuals with disabilities and other qualifying individuals. Presently, there are approximately 14,000 applicants waiting to receive assistance. The Housing Authority may have the ability to provide additional assistance to veterans who are not currently on the waiting list; but, this would further delay assistance to the current applicants on the waiting list.
Resources Available to Veterans
Most Orange County Housing Authorities operate similarly to Garden Grove Housing Authority with similar prioritization for Section 8 rental assistance. However, there are several Housing Authorities that offer supplemental programs for veterans. For example, the Orange County, Santa Ana and Anaheim Housing Authorities offer assistance to homeless veterans through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, which combines Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance for homeless veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Since Garden Grove Housing Authority does not have a HUD-VASH program, we are able to refer qualifying Veterans to the Long Beach Veterans Administration who will work to assist in placing qualifying veterans in one of the existing programs. Garden Grove Housing Authority can look into potential opportunities to seek funding for similar programs in Garden Grove in the future as well.
Outreach to Congressional Representatives
Over the past several years Garden Grove Housing Authority staff has met with and written letters to its Congressional representatives advocating for additional resources to augment the Section 8 Rental Assistance Program to more adequately meet the community’s needs. We are pleased to report that past advocacy efforts have resulted in an approximate $2 million budget increase in the current fiscal year, which will help the program address increases in rental costs and provide assistance to approximately 150 families who are currently on the waiting list. In response to Housing Authority direction, we have sent additional letters, emails, and made phone calls to our Congressional representatives expressing the need for supplemental resources to assist our veterans. We will continue to follow-up to advocate for funding for this purpose.