Local veterans participating in the federal voucher program administered by the Vancouver Housing Authority:
o 110 males and 13 females.
o Average age: 53.
o Average income: $9,817 a year.
o Average rental subsidy: $426 a month.
Eight additional Clark County veterans will get places to call home, following a new round of federal housing vouchers.
The new vouchers are among 240 authorized for Washington veterans, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
A $41,217 grant will subsidize the eight rent-support vouchers.
The voucher program is a multi-agency partnership that includes the U.S. departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development.
At the local level, the vouchers are administered by the Vancouver Housing Authority; the Vancouver Division of the VA Portland Medical Center handles case management, including screening clients.
Local veterans participating in the federal voucher program administered by the Vancouver Housing Authority:
o 110 males and 13 females.
o Average age: 53.
o Average income: $9,817 a year.
o Average rental subsidy: $426 a month.
The new allocation brings to 178 the total number of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) vouchers in the Vancouver area.
Twenty-five local veterans living in voucher-supported housing have children.
The vouchers serve vets in two types of housing: tenant-based vouchers cover rent in private housing; project-based vouchers are attached to specific units of housing.
The eight new vouchers will subsidize tenant-based housing, said Roy Johnson, VHA executive director.
The veterans “would have to locate apartments or homes that are for rent,” Johnson said. The VHA inspects the residence, determines if the rent is reasonable, and works out the contract with the landlord. The veteran pays about 30 percent of the rent and utilities.
Not all those 178 vouchers represent veterans who are being housed right now, Johnson said. In addition to the eight just added, almost a quarter of the other slots are waiting for a project-based housing facility — Freedom’s Path — to be built on the Vancouver VA campus. Vouchers for that project were awarded in October.
Like the other vouchers, the eight new slots are permanent — “As long as the HUD budget is renewed,” Johnson said.
As occupants transition to other housing, the vouchers will be re-issued to other veterans in need. The average length of time for a veteran in the voucher program is about 2½ years.
With the help of the HUD-VASH vouchers, homelessness among American veterans has declined 33 percent since 2010, according to the news release from Murray’s office.
