Low-income families having hard time finding housing

Raeann Faucett of Pasco knows all too well how difficult it is to find a place to rent in the Tri-Cities.

She and her son, Demetrius, 2, lived in a Pasco apartment until July 22, when a fire destroyed their four-plex on 12th Street and Yakima Avenue and everything they owned.

Since then, she said she hasn't been able to find a place to rent.

With Tri-City apartment occupancy rates hovering at 98 percent to 99 percent, that's not surprising, public housing officials say, even though Faucett has qualified for housing assistance.

The Benton Franklin Community Action Committee, which administers several housing assistance programs, has 20 families with rental coupons looking for housing, said Judith Gidley, CAC executive director.

And more than 50 families are on a waiting list for assistance, with more people applying daily, she said.

Jeanne Jelke, executive director of the Benton-Franklin Chapter of the American Red Cross, said the issue isn't always qualifying for help: It's finding a place to rent once a housing voucher is in hand.

The local Red Cross generally provides displaced families with motel vouchers for up to three days, Jelke said. And in some cases, it helps with the first month's rent or a deposit.

Faucett said the Red Cross gave her motel vouchers for three nights.

But she couldn't find an apartment in the two-week window even though she qualified for the housing voucher.

"I don't have a lot of income," said Faucett, who works 32 hours a week at a Kennewick Tesoro.

Some landlords want people's incomes to be three times the monthly cost of rent, she said. And Faucett is three months into the yearlong Benton-Franklin Drug Court program, which shows up if landlords check her record.

The day after the fire, she began applying for help through the CAC, churches and other agencies that provide housing assistance.

But it wasn't until Tuesday that Faucett said the committee approved her for the first month's rent and a rental deposit.

Now she is apartment hunting, but she and her son have had to sleep in their car when they can't find anywhere else to stay because their resources are dwindling.

She still has about $200 left after buying what she and Demetrius needed after the fire, such as clothing, toiletries and blankets. And she said she still has to pay for her car, car insurance, cell phone and child care.

For those with no income, finding shelter is even more difficult.

Tawnee Salo of Pasco has been struggling to qualify for housing assistance programs, which have long waiting lists and often no money.

But she and her 2-month-old son, Phenix, need housing now. Salo has been staying in hotels, but said she can't afford that for much longer.

Faucett and Salo are among many low-income people competing against people with high incomes for rentals because vacancy rates are so low, said Karlene Navarre, Kennewick Housing Authority executive director.

From her agency, she said about 64 families are looking for a place to rent using Section 8 housing vouchers offered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Housing Authority of Pasco and Franklin County has another 90 families with vouchers looking for a rental, said executive director Andy Anderson.

His agency has approval to offer 318 vouchers, but 213 more families are on a waiting list, Anderson said. It also has 289 public housing units, with 159 families on the waiting list.

The Kennewick Housing Authority recently absorbed customers of the shut-down Richland Housing Authority and now serves 1,113 households with Section 8 housing in Richland, Kennewick and Benton County. Its waiting list totals about 780 households, and it stopped accepting applications July 1, Navarre said.

All of its 190 public housing units are full, with about 267 families on a waiting list for the next opening, she said.

Families that don't qualify for federal or state assistance have few places to turn.

Byron Brooks, Tri-City Union Gospel Mission men's services director, said those staying at the mission who have some form of income are finding it difficult to find housing.

"There's just nothing out there," he said.

Barbara Puigh, president and acting executive director of Elijah Family Homes, a nonprofit that serves families that don't qualify for state assistance, said it has provided subsidized rent for eight to 10 families at a time, but that's a small fraction of the numbers looking for help and a place to stay. And it also has a waiting list, with about six families on it, she said.

This story was originally published August 15, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Low-income families having hard time finding housing ."