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Traditionally, when families first receive
Section 8 vouchers, they often choose to stay in place or find an
apartment in the same neighborhood. Families participating in the Section
8 program are often more receptive to undertaking a wider housing search
only after they have received rental assistance for a year or more -
largely because they are both more experienced with the Section 8 program
and less anxious about looking for new housing.
As HOME's Greater
Buffalo Community Housing Center (CHC) approaches the end of its
fourth year, HOME and the Rental Assistance Corporation of Buffalo (RACB)
have decided to join forces to assist additional families who may be
interested in looking for housing in Buffalo and Erie County neighborhoods
not characterized by high rates of poverty.
CHC participants have always been welcomed
back if they were interested in moving. However, before now families who
had received Section 8 vouchers prior to when the CHC opened in 1999 did
not have the same option. Beginning this fall, that is changing. In
collaboration with the staff at RACB, HOME will now offer mobility
counseling and housing search assistance to anyone with a RACB
administered Section 8 voucher who currently resides in a low-income
neighborhood.
One key change in this new effort is that
the CHC will no longer be able to offer financial assistance with security
deposits or moving expenses to participants. Because of this, an emphasis
will be placed on counseling participants on the "economics of moving" and
securing the return of a security deposit from the current landlord.
Additionally, they will learn budgeting techniques and be encouraged to
look at ways to save the necessary money or to seek financial assistance
available from social services or other community based organizations.
HOME believes that this further expansion of
the CHC program is yet another significant step toward providing all
Section 8 families with a true choice of where to live and opening the
door to a broader range of economic and educational opportunities. |
