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Housing Crisis Pushes Federal Funded Housing To Max, Waitlist Closed
Housing Crisis Pushes Federal Funded Housing To Max, Waitlist Closed 10/10/12
fbolton@cbs7.com
CBS 7 News Reporter
October 10, 2012
ODESSA, TX - The housing crisis is reaching an all time low here in the Basin. The Housing Authority of the City of Odessa says they are at full capacity for their Section 8 Voucher Program and families are now forced to find another way to keep a roof over their heads.
This small travel trailer is the only option for 2 mothers and their children due to the housing crisis. They say the crisis is not only putting a toll on themselves, but also their children.
"The hardest part is seeing my kids cry everyday. They're having trouble in school to because of this situation,” said single mother, Alma Carr.
Alma and her 2 children live with her sister in law and her 3 kids. The children sleep on the floor and share beds at night.
There’s no running water, heat and barely any functioning electricity.
The disabled mother says she tried applying for federally funded Section 8 Housing Voucher Program in Odessa, but they said no.
"They told me that I couldn't apply for it because everything was full and the waiting list was closed. They told me I had to wait," said Carr.
The Housing Authorities of the City of Odessa say their waitlist closed in April. Now they have more than 80 people on the list and are helping more than 800 families already.
"We will not open that list again, until I know that there is some relief in our market because it's just completely saturated," said Bernadine Spears.
Spears say the federal government is running on old information. So she's saving articles to present to them and ask for more subsidized funding for their program.
"They [the articles] compared our local rental market with that of Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio and you'll see that the market here is a lot higher," said Spears.
If the Department of Housing and Urban Development provides more funding, it will help mothers like Alma receive much need help to make it through this crisis.
"It’s really hard being a single mom and trying to take care of 2 kids, but I'm still not giving up. I'm still going through it” said Carr.
The family will be forced to leave their travel trailer in November. They say they have no place to stay.