Full Story at http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/ZONE07/710170855/1008/NEWS01.

I wonder how many crack dealers are abusing the welfare system this time around? Also, I wonder how many whites who deserve the AIDE will be ripped off or turned down based on "race"?

Thousands wait for housing aid
City needs more Section 8 vouchers

By Marcus Green
magreen@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

About 12,000 low-income families in Louisville remain on a waiting list for federal housing subsidies when fewer vouchers are available and less public housing exists, a new report and Courier-Journal analysis show.

Ja Rayee King, who lives with her two teenage children in a temporary apartment at a Volunteers of America shelter, is one of the thousands in the community waiting to hear if she'll receive a Section 8 housing subsidy. That would let her pay 30 percent of her income in rent; the government would cover the rest.

"I really hope to be able to get a Section (8) voucher very soon," King, who is deaf, wrote in an e-mail interview yesterday.

While Louisville's numbers of Section 8 vouchers have fluctuated since 2002, they have shown an overall decline. There's been little progress reducing the waiting list, said Tim Barry, the Louisville Metro Housing Authority's executive director.

The Section 8 program is paid for by the federal government and administered by local housing authorities, but there's "just not enough money given to any of us to cover the demand," Barry said. "That's always been the bottom line."

The report -- to be released today by Louisville's non-profit Metropolitan Housing Coalition -- argues that the waiting list is likely to grow because of rising foreclosures, higher gasoline prices and jobs that don't offer health coverage and other benefits.

The coalition and other advocates of affordable housing say the shortage of Section 8 vouchers adds to another problem for low-income families: The city hasn't yet replaced hundreds of subsidized public housing units lost when Clarksdale Homes was demolished to make room for the Liberty Green mixed-income development just east of downtown.

Nearly 2,700 families were waiting to move in to public housing as of last month, the highest number in five years, according to information provided by the housing authority.

The repercussions are being felt in homeless shelters, where families are staying for months rather than weeks, and service providers are looking beyond Louisville to find affordable housing for low-income families.

One family staying at a shelter at Wayside Christian Mission was placed in public housing in New Albany, Ind., after case managers couldn't find space in Louisville, said Nina Moseley, the shelter's chief operating officer.

"So we're losing some of our citizens, and it's an uprooting because those with children have to switch school systems," she said.

Demolition cuts units
The drop in public housing units in Louisville can be traced to the demolition of Clarksdale.

Overall, there were 4,648 public housing units in the city last year, ranging from large complexes such as Iroquois Homes to apartments scattered throughout Louisville. That's about 300 fewer than in 2002.

As part of a deal with residents, the city's housing authority agreed to restore the inventory of public housing lost when Clarksdale was razed -- more than 700 apartments. Louisville is unique in agreeing to a "one-for-one" replacement, Barry said.

At least half have been replaced as the agency buys and builds units scattered throughout the city, and officials hope to have the rest done by the end of 2009.

The blueprint for Liberty Green, which calls for removing barracks-style housing units and relocating residents to different neighborhoods, is being followed as the city demolishes Iroquois Homes in southern Louisville. The next wave of demolition -- 11 buildings south of Bicknell Avenue -- may start by the end of the year.

Cathy Hinko, the housing coalition's executive director, said the city should find new housing for the Iroquois residents before the complex is demolished. That would avoid the housing shortage that occurred when Clarksdale was razed.

"Everybody else is backing up on the waiting list," Hinko said. "So a different approach is: Let's produce the replacement housing first, and then tear down the units."

Barry disagrees with Hinko. In the case of Iroquois, he said, there won't be a housing shortage because the demolition is occurring slowly enough that all units should be replaced quickly.