Emergency Housing Voucher Program Ends June 30, Affecting Dozens of CSRA Families
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs will end the Emergency Housing Voucher program on June 30.
Georgia's Emergency Housing Voucher program will close on June 30. Dozens of CSRA families will lose federal rent help. The state's Department of Community Affairs announced the shutdown of this pandemic-era program.
Augusta-Richmond County received just over 60 vouchers. Funds ran out last year and Georgia officials had no choice but to shut it down.
Congress created the Emergency Housing Voucher program as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, pouring five billion dollars into housing for families through Section 8 tenant-based housing across the country.
"It was put in place after COVID when rents went so high, and people lost employment due to COVID and had a hard time getting back into the employment market," said Bethany Trapp, program coordinator at the Marion Barnes Center, per WRDW.
EHV vouchers cannot be converted to HCV tenant-based vouchers, which were once called Section 8 vouchers. People who received the temporary vouchers will be added to the tenant-based voucher waitlist without needing to apply.
Families who currently use emergency housing vouchers need to contact their case manager with the housing authority. They can learn about other options.
