Published: July 31, 2008 10:07 pm      

Residents can apply for housing assistance

The Walker County Housing Authority is currently offering applications to low-income individuals and families interested in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Applications will be available before Aug. 6, when the waiting list for the voucher program will be open for the only time this year.

Anyone interested in filling out an application for the housing program must go to the housing authority office, located at 340 State Highway 75 North, Suite E.

“We will be opening our waiting list for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program on Aug. 6 for just that day,” said Mary Harrelson, executive director of the Walker County Housing Authority. “We’re handing out application packets at the office now, and those will be available until next Tuesday.”

The application lists several identification forms and other requirements needed in order for an individual or family to get onto the waiting list.

“They’re going to have to bring income verification, copies of social security cards and birth certificates for everyone in the house, forms of photo identification for all adults and proof of where they’re living now,” Harrelson said. “The packet will also include criminal background reports which the applicants will have to get filled out.

“They have to take one to the Walker County Sheriff’s Department, one to the Huntsville Police Department and one to the University Police Department.”

If the applicant is currently living with another person, the homeowner will also be required to contribute proof to the application.

“If the person is living with someone, the applicant will need a note saying that they are living there and indicating what they contribute to the household,” Harrelson said.

On Aug. 6, Harrelson said she will work with any individuals who arrive between the times specified.

“As many people as come and have signed on the list by 3:30 p.m., we’ll handle that day,” she said. “We usually get anywhere between 125 and 150 people every time we open up the waiting list.

“The list has not been open since last year on May 30.”

Harrelson said those who pick up their applications ahead of time and bring all necessary paperwork on Aug. 6 will be able to complete their applications between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. without a problem.

“We really would like to complete as many applications as we can on that day, but we will give applicants up to two weeks to complete everything,” she said. “It should be known that people go onto the waiting list according to the time they complete the application, and I pull them off of the waiting list according to that date and time.

“When I have a vacancy, I call them in the order they appear.”

Once an application is completed and verified, the housing authority works with the family or individual once they have found their own location to live.

The applicant enters into a lease with a private landlord, and the housing authority signs a contract to pay part of their rent, depending on income, or all of their rent in extreme circumstances.

Harrelson said she will call those on the waiting list at various points throughout the year when vouchers become available.

“I have to have a waiting list to work with so I can call somebody in and work with them,” she said. “I issue vouchers to them, and they have to go out and find a place to live within the payment standards we set in this county.

“If they find a suitable location, we can help them with their housing costs.”