Emergency Housing Vouchers
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Recovery Act into law. The Act allocated $5 billion to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create an emergency housing program that addresses the housing needs of the homeless. Consequently, HUD has allocated 70,000 vouchers to Public Housing Agencies throughout the country. The HACB has been awarded 116 Emergency Housing Vouchers, to utilize within its Butte and Glenn County jurisdiction, to provide rental assistance to the un-housed.
The Emergency Housing Voucher program is a new program created by HUD to not only house a vulnerable population, but to house them quickly. These 116 vouchers provide the HACB a unique opportunity to provide rental assistance by means of a program designed to make rental assistance accessible for our hard to house populations, namely the extremely low-income unsheltered homeless and those in homeless transitional housing without recourse to further housing opportunity. These vouchers will assist individuals and families that are homeless, at risk of homelessness, were recently homeless, and who, without assistance would return to homelessness, and those fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and/or human trafficking. The Emergency Housing Voucher program directly addresses housing needs of the area in providing rental assistance and supportive services to hard-to-house and vulnerable homeless households, households that otherwise compete to secure scarce housing opportunity in an area recovering from disaster and emerging from COVID-19 pandemic protocols.
The HACB will be partnering with the Butte County Continuum of Care and the Dos Rios Continuum of Care to administer this new program within the HACB’s jurisdiction, including Butte and Glenn Counties. The Coordinated Entry System of both counties will be responsible to refer eligible applicants to the HACB for program admission and participation. Participants will have 120 days to use their EHV to lease up.
HOW DO I APPLY?Interested homeless individuals or families are encouraged to contact Butte 211 and ask for enrollment into the CoC Coordinated Entry System. Once enrolled in coordinated entry a housing agency within the continuum of care will contact you once a referral for you and/or your household comes available. The HACB and 211, has no control over when, how, or who will be referred. Neither the HACB nor 211 will be providing you a referral for the EHV program.