The Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority will soon pause accepting applications for a transitional housing program that currently has a four-year waitlist.
Effective April 11, LDCHA will temporarily close the wait list for its City HOME Transitional Housing program, which “provides temporary housing assistance and support services to households transitioning from homelessness to housing,” according to a Wednesday news release.
“Like other public housing authorities, LDCHA is grappling with the lack of availability of affordable housing,” LDCHA said in the release. “The decision to close the HOME Transitional Housing waiting list is due to the current average wait time on that list, which exceeds four years.”
LDCHA CEO Shannon Oury said in the release that keeping the waiting list open indefinitely can create unrealistic expectations for people who are seeking housing. LDCHA will reopen the waitlist as soon as they can cut the wait time for housing down to 24 months, she said.
All other LDCHA waitlists — including Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers and public housing — are still accepting applications, according to the release.
In addition, Oury confirmed that no one’s current LDCHA housing is in jeopardy.
“The City Home transitional housing program is still operating and offers will continue to be made off that list as funding becomes available,” she said. “But we are not accepting new applications for this waitlist. The crux of the problem is we have the same amount of funding but significantly more people applying, so the list and the waiting time is too long.”
Learn more about LDCHA and its programs on its website, ldcha.org.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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