In the News

EVERETT — The 500 low-income Snohomish County families who received notices last month about federal rent subsidies running out are off the hook — for 2014, at least.

The Housing Authority of Snohomish County on Monday mailed a second letter informing those households that their Section 8 vouchers will last through year’s end.

That came as a relief for Destinaey Nicholson, 33, a single mother who lives in south Everett. One of her worries, if the loss of rent subsidies had forced her to move, was having the two daughters who live with her switch schools.

“I actually came to accept that this was going to happen,” Nicholson said. “Now, it’s like a miracle.”

The reversal came after federal authorities informed local Housing Authority administrators that there’s enough money in the 2014 budget to benefit all current Section 8 recipients.

The change owes to the bipartisan budget compromise that Congress reached last month. The upshot is that the Housing Authority will receive about $28.5 million for 2014, some $2 million more than expected.

We concluded that we would be able to get through the calendar year without any risk to anybody in the program,” said Bob Davis, the Housing Authority’s executive director. “We’re really happy that nobody’s going to be at risk this year.”

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., got involved after learning of the potential cutbacks in Snohomish County. DelBene said she was puzzled, since the new federal budget should have maintained Section 8 funding. She urged dialogue between leaders at the Housing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

To read the full article, click HERE.