The Salem Housing Authority on Nov. 10, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Six months after getting extra money to help 34 homeless or low-income households, just two clients of the Salem Housing Authority have found a rental.
Along with housing authorities around the state, Salem Housing Authority got emergency housing vouchers in July through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development intended to help people struggling during the pandemic.
Vouchers cover some or all of the cost of rent for low-income tenants by paying landlords directly. Once someone receives a housing voucher, they must then find a rental within 90 days. The distribution in other parts of the state has varied, with some housing authorities using all their vouchers while some haven’t gotten anyone into housing.
Statewide 15% of 1,582 housing vouchers have been leased. That’s partially because the Housing Authority of Portland, which got the largest number of awards at 476, has only issued 14 of those vouchers and leased two, according to a federal database.
Lynette Brown, who manages the rental voucher program for Salem Housing Authority, said the vouchers target people experiencing homelessness, at risk of homelessness and those fleeing domestic violence, stalking, human trafficking and sex trafficking.
“Every voucher we can get from HUD is taking somebody and providing them stable housing. It’s all a benefit to the community in our opinion,” she said.
Brown said 24 vouchers have been issued in Salem to people or households who can then use the voucher to look for a rental. Of those, one has leased a rental and another is close, she said.
She said the vouchers came available on July 1, but the Salem Housing Authority had to get referrals through The ARCHES Project and Center for Hope and Safety.
Once they started receiving referrals they send clients a packet, screen them and schedule an interview with a housing specialist.
Brown said that’s normally a two-week turnaround, but it’s a soft deadline because the people they’re working with are vulnerable.
“Then because these individuals are homeless, they’re sometimes more difficult to track down to get what we need,” she said.
The housing authority hired a landlord navigator to help connect clients with vouchers with available housing this year in an effort to address the struggles people were facing trying to find a place in a tight rental market.
Brown said the emergency voucher program helps pay for application fees and security deposits unlike the regular federal housing vouchers, which only cover rent.
The housing authority has more than 3,100 housing vouchers. Brown said there are 100 people looking for units to rent through that program.
She said if people don’t get applications in as soon as a unit becomes available, “they’re not staying on the market for long and there’s just not a lot.”
Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected].
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