Five hundred people on the Chattanooga Housing Authority's waiting list for housing support will get a chance for new homes this year, officials say.
"We are now able to provide additional housing for people who desperately need it," said Eddie Holmes, CHA's board chairman.
Housing officials already have notified the first group of people on the list and they are scheduled for an office visit this month to determine if they are still eligible for a housing choice voucher, formerly known as Section 8.
"We're purging the waiting list," said Tammie Reeves, CHA's housing choice voucher program director. "We need to lease 500 (units) by the end of December."
Some people no longer may qualify because they owe money to CHA, exceed income limits or fail background checks.
CHA officials learned this year that they would be able to house some residents after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development decided to give an additional $200,000 a month toward the effort.
The money is to compensate for funds that the agency should have received last year but didn't because of HUD funding cuts, Mrs. Reeves said.
"They kept saying we'd get more money in 2010. We were hoping, but until we saw it, we didn't know to believe it," Mrs. Reeves said.
BY THE NUMBERS* 2 -- Years the Section 8 waiting list has been stagnant.* 500 -- People expected to receive housing vouchers by December.* $200,000 -- Estimated monthly increase to house Section 8 residents.* 4,000 -- People currently on the waiting list.Source: Chattanooga Housing Authority
However, the voucher program isn't yet opening its list to new applicants, officials said. The goal is have staff focusing on getting homes for people already on the waiting list -- which includes more than 4,000 people -- before considering people not listed, Mrs. Reeves said.
The majority of those on the list have been waiting since October 2006, Ms. Reeves said. Housing officials briefly opened the list in 2008, but closed it again the same year, stating that it would be nearly four years before it could find housing for the people already listed.
HUD officials have said a reasonable wait list time should not exceed one to two years.
Emma Cox is among several low-income residents who wants housing and is watching to see if the list opens again. She lost her job in June 2009 and moved in with a friend in February after her unemployment checks ran out.
"I'd be on the street if I didn't have my friend," she said.
She tried to apply for Section 8 housing in November 2008, but CHA had already closed the list, she said.