dear friends,
if you can spare a couple of minutes, please do call your representative today at the number below to urge them to fight to save the Section 8 program. step by step instructions are below.
this is a matter of life and death for many of our clients, and tens of thousands of people all over the U.S. who rely on this housing subsidy program to enable them to pay the rent every month. people have already been cut from the program and evicted because of these funding rollbacks. we have to stop the cuts now.
thank you for your help.
bettina
National Save Section 8 Call-in Day
Monday, July 19
You can save the Section 8 Housing Voucher Program in 3 easy steps!
- Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be transferred to your Representative. (Find your Representative here.)
- Ask to speak to the staff person that deals with housing issues.
- Say:
My name is _____, a constituent. The Section 8 housing voucher program is very important to me. Please talk to your colleagues on the Appropriations Committee and ask them to:- Restore the necessary $1.6 billion to the Section 8 budget to ensure that the Section 8 Voucher Program is fully funded for all authorized vouchers.
- Oppose the Flexible Voucher Program proposal and ensure that the Section 8 Voucher Program continues to target families with the greatest need.
Thank you.
The Section 8 Housing Voucher Program, is the nation’s largest low-income housing assistance program. It provides about 2 million low-income households with vouchers that help cover the cost of obtaining housing on the open market.
The President’s fiscal year 2005 budget leaves the program $1.6 billion short of what is needed to fund all existing vouchers.
The proposal would convert the Housing Voucher Program into a block grant to state and local housing agencies, eliminating basic protections for low-income families.
This means that one or more of the following will have to happen:
- 250,000 households would be cut from the program. This is 1/8 of households currently using the program.
- Public Housing Authorities would be forced to raise rents by an average of $850 per family in 2005 and $2,000 more per family in 2009.
- Vouchers could be shifted away from poor households towards those that have higher incomes.
For more information, go here.