Fear of homelessness a reality for Section 8 recipients

For Gilroyan Andrea Pantoja, the budget sequestration in Washington D.C. has created rippling cuts that come so close to home, it might mean the single mother of two can’t afford to pay rent this month.
Changes effective Sept. 1 ask recipients of Section 8 vouchers – a federally funded program that provides subsidized housing to low-income families – to pay rent based on new calculations. It also asks families to choose between finding smaller residences or paying more rent.
“Being a single parent isn’t easy… The people who have been on the program from the beginning – that is where they should have cut,” said Pantoja. “There are some people that sit in a four-bedroom house and they only have one kid and they rent the rooms out.”
If Pantoja can’t find a two-bedroom residence by Saturday, she will be required to pay $831 to keep her current three-bedroom house – or face the possibility of becoming homeless. Pantoja’s monthly income from social security and benefits is $582, plus an inconsistent stream of child support from her estranged boyfriend.
“Our board had two really bad choices – take people off the program or increase rents program wide,” said Executive Director Alex Sanchez with the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Clara (HACSC). “Once you lose your subsidy in Santa Clara County, there is no place else to go but homelessness.”
 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has cut $21 million from HACSC’s Section 8 program funding for 2013. This means that up to 1,500 voucher recipients – including seniors, single moms and veterans – in Santa Clara County could lose their homes this year, according to a HACSC press release.
If HACSC had responded to the budget cuts by cutting a percentage of the households it serves, about 1,000 households would have lost vouchers, explained Sanchez.
 “Our board of commissions chose not to displace anyone, especially in this housing market,” said HACSC Executive Director Alex Sanchez.
Which is why HACSC decided to raise rent from 30 percent to 35 percent of the voucher recipient’s gross income, and return to the basic federal formula for calculating households. Voucher recipients now receive one room for the heads of household and a room for each additional two people, regardless of age or gender.
Those who choose to stay in their current residences, even if those residences do not meet their voucher’s revised requirements for size, must make up the difference in rent starting this month.
Allowances once made for disabilities, utility payments and the cost of raising children are also being cut, meaning voucher recipients previously receiving the aforementioned allowances are being hit in more areas than one.
 “When I heard the news about the cuts, it floored me,” said Dee, an 80-year-old recipient of Section 8 who wished only to be referred to by her first name. “I don’t know what I am going to do.”
Dee, who was interviewed previously by the Dispatch in late August, said the total monthly rent for her one bedroom and one bathroom apartment at Village Green of Gilroy is $1,009 – nearly 60 percent of which has previously been covered by the government.
Now, Dee’s contribution to rent for the apartment she has been living in for seven years has climbed to $463, a significant $100 increase from the prior cost.
After paying the newly implemented increase in her rent, Dee – who lives on Social Security – said she will only have $300 to live on per month and is distressed she will no longer have sufficient funds to cover the costs of her groceries and prescriptions.
Voucher recipients affected by Section 8 cuts gathered outside of the 7/11 on 10th Street Sept. 12 to discuss possible plans for action.
Cuts to the Section 8 voucher program were accompanied by cuts to HACSC staff, meaning there are less staffers to field calls from concerned citizens.
“We’ve had employee cuts for four years,” said Alex Sanchez, whose once 300-person agency now consists of about 120 employees. “This past year, we eliminated 40 additional jobs.”
With more than 1.7 million residents, Santa Clara County remains the most populous in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to HACSC. The waiting list for Section 8 vouchers in Santa Clara County is closed and has been closed for five years, said Sanchez.
While the 5 percent rent increase for voucher recipients is one of the changes that went into effect this month, the bigger challenge, according to several voucher recipients, will be the influx in demand for smaller residences that fit the new voucher specifications.
Individuals and families who regularly struggle to pay rent have to come up with money for a deposit and sometimes the first or last month of rent when they move, explained Graciela Ramirez, Services Coordinator for an emergency rent assistance program at St. Joseph’s Family Center in Gilroy.
Often, apartment companies also ask for background checks, which can be an additional $20 to $35 per adult.
Pantoja is one of many voucher recipients asked by the County this month to downsize her residence.
Going from to a three-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom apartment will mean her 11-year-old son will be sharing a room with his 17-year-old stepsister.
“Some of us have kids that have been molested or raped… they can’t be with male siblings,” added Virginia Diaz, 30, another Section 8 voucher recipient who turned out for last week’s gathering outside Seven-11.
So far, Pantoja has found houses and apartments that fit the newly-adjusted specifications for her voucher, but these places only offer spaces on their waiting lists.
 “I don’t have time to be on a waiting list,” she said. “I need something now or I am going to be homeless.”
Not every landlord accepts Section 8 vouchers, and those that do may not have smaller residences available.
“If everyone has to downsize to a two-bedroom apartment, how many two-bedroom apartments are available in Gilroy?” asked Vanessa Deleon, a 35-year-old Section 8 voucher recipient who is a full-time college student, works part-time, has four children and does not receive child support.
Deleon’s costs increased this month when County allowances for utilities and deductions for having children were cut. She paid $118 for last month’s rent. She is now required to pay $290, which does not include the money she will pay in utilities, garbage and water bills. Her monthly income is $762.
“A lot of us are women trying to get our lives back together,” said Deleon. “Why can’t some of these cuts be made to people who could better absorb it?”
The United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, testified in February before the Senate Committee on Appropriations on the impacts of sequestration, explaining how it could cause 125,000 individuals and families – including seniors and disabled individuals – to lose assistance provided by housing choice vouchers and possibly become homeless.  
Rental assistance agencies can help once, but have to verify that the families can pay without assistance the following month, explained Garciela Ramirez, the Services Coordinator for St. Joseph’s Family Center, which runs an emergency rental assistance program. The center can pay only part of the month’s rent and cannot help with deposits, according to the key terms and conditions section of their website. 
Meanwhile, Pantoja found a job but is afraid that if she takes it, her rent – which has already been raised – will be based on a higher income and will become even more unaffordable.
She asked the potential employer to allow her to deal with her present housing crisis. The employer promised there would be a job waiting for her when she gets things sorted out in a couple of months.
Job opportunities are opening up in Santa Clara County, but mostly for those with higher educations, according to the Housing Needs Assessment report published HACSC in July. There will be significant job openings in the county in the next 10 years, but two-thirds of the available positions will require at least a college degree, according to the report.
Pantoja never graduated from high school. Her 17-year-old daughter will be the first in the family to finish high school.
“She’s got goals, my baby. She is my success,” said Pantoja, who has lived in Gilroy for 25 years and struggled for years with drug abuse before finally moving into the house she lives in now.
“It’s a crisis situation for these families,” said St. Joseph’s Family Center Executive Director David Cox. “Our families are now in a chronic need… with that ongoing crisis, we just don’t have resources.