MORGANTOWN — “There’s going to come a day …” Fairmont Morgantown Housing Authority Executive Director Christal Crouso recently told Morgantown City Council, “when I’m going to need you all to help me with a few things.”
That day may be rapidly approaching.
Long story short, the demand for housing assistance has never been greater and the future of public housing agencies like the 68-year-old FMHA has never been less certain.
“I’m sure that you know all of our housing programs are up for possible cuts, or, if not, to be totally zeroed out of the budget. It’s a really scary time for us when we’re hearing about cuts. When the time comes, I’m hoping that you all will help us rally and talk to our local legislators about the importance of what these programs do. That’s really all we can do at this point in time.”
The possibility of cuts is particularly unnerving given current funding levels are already insufficient to meet the need.
The FMHA serves four counties – Monongalia, Marion, Preston and Taylor – as well as the cities of Morgantown and Fairmont.
While the quasi-governmental agency oversees a number of programs and initiatives – including 136 public housing apartment units that it owns and manages in Fairmont – the bulk of its assistance comes by way of Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.
Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 was designed to assist income-eligible families in renting safe, decent and affordable housing. It’s estimated that two million people nationwide utilize Section 8 benefits.
“We have about 1,289 of those vouchers. I think it’s important for you all to know that 60% of our vouchers that we have for our four-county area are offered in Mon County, so that’s a big portion of our voucher allotment,” Crouso said, explaining those vouchers represent about $677,000 a month across the four-county coverage area. “That’s a huge amount of money that’s going to the private landlord sector.”
But it’s not enough.
The agency hasn’t issued a single voucher since October. In February, it pulled down its waiting list after it climbed past 1,100 names. That number doesn’t include the 151 who have been vetted and will be the first served when and if vouchers become available.
“The truth is, that’s where you’re supposed to be. You’re supposed to fully expend your vouchers and the money that you’ve been given, but it’s a really hard thing to look at people and say, ‘We can’t even open the waiting list for you.’ I think there’s 1,105 on our waiting list and there’s no way we can serve those people. So, it was the responsible thing for us to close the waiting list instead of continuing to add people and provide false hope.”
Deputy Mayor Brian Butcher said the situation described by Crouso is evident in the number of people who are unhoused and seeking services.
“In terms of the housing situation, I think we’ve been at a crisis point for some time. I think it’s especially bad now and a lot of service providers up on the hill at Hazel’s House of Hope, and outside of that, would agree. We probably need to cobble together some kind of immediate solution now,” Butcher said.
He later added, “I don’t see a future in which we sustain or support vouchers long term as a housing solution. … I think it’s something that should be supplemented with public housing, which we’ve stopped as a nation. Larger communities need to be engaged in public housing, but communities like ours need to be engaged in it as well. It’s an economic driver … Just as we invest millions of dollars in this county in other projects, we need to be investing in things like public and subsidized housing.”
Mayor Danielle Trumble said she would also like to see what’s been accomplished in terms of the citywide housing study that was promised in conjunction with the passage of the city’s camping ban.
“We certainly understand that with the changeover in management that there was a bit of a delay in that, but I would like to see an update on that,” Trumble said. “It has been 10 months now, and it’s certainly something that’s needed.”
