After almost 6,000 people applied for a spot on the Little Rock waiting list for federal choice housing vouchers, the Metropolitan Housing Alliance decided to close the list just 2 1/2 hours after it opened Thursday.
It was the first time the Section 8 waiting list had been open since 2009, when 1,500 people applied. That list had been depleted, and since the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires public housing authorities to maintain a waiting list, the Little Rock agency decided to open it this year.
Between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Thursday, 5,540 people submitted online applications. Metropolitan Housing Alliance staff members assisted another 310 people with disabilities in submitting applications the day before.
In all, 5,850 people signed up in the two-day period to get a spot on the waiting list in hopes of receiving a Section 8 voucher. The vouchers provide federal funds to subsidize a low-income person's rent payments at a housing complex of his choosing.
There are some openings for Section 8 vouchers right now, Metropolitan Housing Alliance Executive Director Rodney Forte said. The alliance administers 2,083 such vouchers.
"While MHA has not received any new Section 8 Vouchers or additional funding we are, however, required to maintain a waiting list," a news release from the alliance said. "The high number of applicants applying to the waiting list reflects the tremendous need for affordable housing in Little Rock."
The alliance, formerly known as the Little Rock Public Housing Authority, also operates two homeownership programs and owns and manages 902 public housing units.
Metro on 08/28/2015