Department of Homeless Services Creates Fund to Aid Those Needing Section 8 Vouchers

The Department of Homeless Services is establishing a million-dollar fund to help those whose Section 8 vouchers were re...

View Full Caption

Flickr/SpecialKRB

By Jennifer Glickel

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — The NYC Department of Homeless Services announced Tuesday that it will try to help New Yorkers whose Section 8 housing vouchers were yanked at the end of last year.

Robert Hess, Commissioner for the Department of Homeless Services, told members of the City Council that DHS will be creating a Homebase Housing Flex-Fund of $1 million to "help those whose needs cannot be met through any other means."

The $1 million fund will be maintained by stimulus dollars, Hess said.

The New York City Housing Authority cut the Section 8 voucher program, a federally-funded housing subsidy for the poor, elderly or disabled, when Congress stripped $58 million from their budget last May.

As a result of the cutbacks, 3,000 individuals or families who had already gotten the vouchers but were still looking for an eligible apartment to open up had their vouchers revoked at the end of last year, according to published reports.

The Flex-Fund will work to help the neediest of these 3,000 people.