For 13 years, April Thompson has worked to help people find safe, affordable housing in Rock Springs. Now she's making a decision she never wanted to make: Turning away new applicants before they can even get on a waiting list.
Beginning Dec. 1, the Rock Springs Housing Authority will stop accepting applications for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program and its one-bedroom public housing units.
That’s because there are far more people waiting for assistance than the agency has the resources to serve.
There are 408 applicants on the waiting list for housing vouchers, but the Housing Authority has just 71 regular vouchers, all of which are being used, Thompson told Cowboy State Daily.
Another 158 applicants are waiting for one of the agency's 18 one-bedroom public- housing units – about nine applicants for every unit. Those units are also all occupied, and vacancies are rare.
For Thompson, keeping the waiting lists open has become increasingly difficult to justify.
"It's incredibly sad," she told Cowboy State Daily. "To me it gives false hope."
She said the agency could continue accepting applications, but that would mean telling people they might wait four or five years before receiving assistance.
"I would love to give everyone who walks in the door a voucher," she said.
Instead, Thompson has decided to close the two lists for the first time in her 13 years with the Housing Authority.
Nowhere To Go
Part of the challenge, Thompson said, is that many of the people who receive housing assistance in Rock Springs are older residents living on fixed incomes.
Someone receiving $900 a month in Social Security benefits, for example, might have little ability to afford housing without assistance.
Once that person moves into an affordable one-bedroom unit, there's often little reason — or financial ability — to leave.
"The majority of people who move into those units are on a fixed income," Thompson said. "Their circumstances don't change."
That means the Housing Authority's 18 one-bedroom units rarely become available, even as more people seek assistance.
The agency's policies allow it to close a waiting list when the estimated wait for housing reaches 24 months, Thompson said.
She said she struggled with the decision but ultimately concluded that keeping the lists open wasn't helping applicants.
"While I hate to close it, I need to," she said. "We don't have the ability to help 408 people.”
The Broader Picture
A long waiting list for subsidized housing isn't necessarily proof that the overall housing shortage in Rock Springs is getting worse, said mayor Max Mickelson.
Mickelson said he believes housing is an important issue for the community, but it isn’t simply a question of whether homes or apartments are available.
“It’s whether people can find housing appropriate to their needs at a price they can reasonably afford,” he said.
Housing needs aren’t uniform, he added.
“Seniors, people with disabilities, young families, and residents with limited incomes can face very different challenges.”
Mickelson said Rock Springs has a role in ensuring that its development regulations and processes don’t unnecessarily impede housing opportunities, while the Housing Authority and other housing providers have their own important responsibilities.
He said the city council will hear proposed changes to its building and planning ordinances Nov. 17 with the intent to do just that.
Breathing Room
Meanwhile, Thompson said that closing the waiting lists will provide some wiggle room for her staff and budget.
“Between cost of managing wait list and processing every application that comes in, I can save money,” she said.
Housing Authority staff send update letters every six months to every person on the waiting lists, asking if they still want to remain on the lists.
“You’d be surprised how many people don’t,” Thompson said.
That’s because circumstances change – people get married, find a good-paying job, move in with a relative.
Even still, the number of people being added to the list continually outpaces those who are being dropped.
Now, the limits of the safety net for people who cannot afford housing on their own will be tighter.
“The economy is changing,” Thompson said. “Rents are more expensive. Groceries are more expensive.”
Thompson is confronting the immediate reality that she can't help hundreds of applicants, while Mickelson is looking at what the city might do to make housing development easier over time.
Thompson said she went into this work to help people find homes.
With the waiting-list closures, they can't even get in line.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
