Section 8/Housing Assistance?

Khryssie

Does anyone have any experience with this? I need to get out of my parents' house. I can only work 4 hours a day, 5 days a week tops (the only time I have free childcare), and I am financially responsible for myself and Wyatt. If I work any more, I would basically be working to pay for the daycare needed while I'm at work. 

I'm trying to do this on my own to provide a better living situation for myself and my son, but am having a hard time figuring out just what I need to do. Any type of advice, personal experience, etc. would be greatly appreciated! TIA.  

srs5624

I don't really have any personal experience with Section 8.

Look into child care assistance though. Also, some daycares have reduced rates depending on your income. One center in my area (and it's a good center, not a crap hole) is $222/week for the infant room, but if you make $35,000/year or less it's only $20/week for the infant room (yes, I typed that correctly... $202 savings per week).

So couple the gov't child care assistance with reduced center rates, and it might be more affordable than you think.

Here's a link to the New Hampshire child care assistance services:

https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/dcyf/cdb/index.htm

Good luck!

Edited because I hit send too fast.

Khryssie

Oh, awesome! I didn't even know about that. Thank you!

EmjayTheHunted

A friend of mine works at the housing authority that deals with Section 8 where I used to live.  She was telling me the waiting list is 3 years there.  At best.

They had someone come in saying they were from this area (South Florida), and apparently the waiting lists in this area isn't even accepting new people. It's that way in most places apparently. 

You would have a HARD time getting it anywhere in the country without a super long wait.   You need to call your local housing authority. 

 

MomlovesEloise

It might vary by state, but one of my friends just moved into an income based apartment complex. She was living with her mom, but she needed to be independent. Her daughter is 2 now and she wanted her parents to be grandparents rather than second parents.  She gets both housing and daycare assistance and she pays $25 per week for daycare (the average is $175) and she pays $250 per month for her apartment. It's a very nice complex with playgrounds and a swimming pool and they just base your rent on what you can afford. 

Hopefully they have something like that where you are. GL! 

 

rocknmum

Section 8 has a very long waiting list in all areas like PP said, however low income housing also goes off income and has state regulation as to quality of housing and that's your best bet. In Maine it's 30% of your income and heat is always included. You do have to pay security deposits first and last months usually however your local town office may be willing to help you with that. Low income housing is different from section 8 in the fact that families with children are placed higher up than people without if they do have waiting lists and the lower your income the higher they place you as well.

ascar29

In ct there is something called care for kids. They pay a big chunk of your daycare. And i know you can get housing assistance and cash assistance. There's wic and other programs too. I know you can contact wic and they can ppintypu in the right direction. My SIL had houseing assistance and had a really nice big duplex.with a playgound etc. And nother one of my friends is getting it and her apartment is nicer then mine! That i pay 1000$ a month for. We aren't on anything like that but I know its doable. Also take into.consideration nothing is free. Here in.ct if you get wic/housing/etc... if you coming into.a 'windfall" of money the goverment takes what you borrowed from them out 1st. Weather its winning the lottory..getting into a car accident, if someone leave you money when they pass etc. My FIs mom wading government help when her oldest was born and when she passed away 5 years ago they tool a big chunck of her life insurance. Goodluck!! I woulh start by calling wic Sorry for typos and stuff typing 1 handed from my phone!

kcisthebombdotcom

As PP mentioned, section 8 is tough to get into. Plus, those are not the kinds of places you'd want to be as a young, single mom honestly.

Your best option is to find a full time job and try to get childcare assistance through the state. Even if that didnt work out, you could still make out financially by paying for daycare 20 hours a week/free childcare for the rest of the time.

Khryssie

I must be misunderstanding what Section 8 is, exactly. I'm under the impression that it is a program where recipients receive a voucher to use towards rent on an apartment (pre-approved by housing authority) of their choice. 

Am I wrong? Please, correct me if so. I'm starting to feel a bit silly... 

srs5624

I think it varies from state to state, so here's the Section 8 stuff specific to NH...

https://www.nhhfa.org/rent_programs.cfm

 

It looks like NH's waiting list for Section 8 housing is 6-8 years (it's in the FAQ's).

AggieBeth06

Khryssie:

I must be misunderstanding what Section 8 is, exactly. I'm under the impression that it is a program where recipients receive a voucher to use towards rent on an apartment (pre-approved by housing authority) of their choice. 

Am I wrong? Please, correct me if so. I'm starting to feel a bit silly... 

Yes. But there are plenty of places that don't accept HUD (sect 8). I studied housing policy. There does tend to be higher crime rates in HUD areas. Yes, landlords get their checks, but maintenance can be a big issue. We talked to some property owners that no longer accepted HUD because the Feds regulate te standard of housing, but they kept having tenants destroy property who couldnt pay to fix it. The landlord then gets stuck with the bill.

That's not always the case, but it was in our study.

As someone else mentioned, you may be a able to find a place that has income-based rent. These properties, built with tax credit incentives, have to set aside a portion of their properties for those in need. I'm trying to remember how you'd go about finding these properties... Let me look around.

From what I observed, I'd feel more comfortable here than with sec 8. BUT you have to do what you need to do. And if sec 8 is what that means while you're figuring out what to do next, by all means, use it. That is what it is there for.

You may also look in to temporary assistance for needy families and the earned income tax credit.

AggieBeth06

In regards to the tax credit housing, I would call the NH housing authority and explain that you are looking for local developments built with the low income housing tax credit as a potential renter. Ask them if they can help you identify local properties or know of how you could go about finding that information. Best of luck!

EmjayTheHunted

I know that the places here that accept Section 8 are usually not ANYPLACE you would want to live.  The owner of my condo actually has a Section 8 tenant that lives in our building, but she was his tenant already for years and then later got approved, so he let her stay.  She's a nice little old lady.  Mostly, the good places are too expensive and section 8 won't pay that much.  He kept her rent low because she had lived in his unit for so long. But then again, I have a great landlord! I say this because he fixes everything and never bothers you!  woot!

Also, people have bad experiences and then won't accept it anymore.  He won't take NEW section 8, because they offer landlords no protection.   If they trash it... oh well.  

"Low income housing" is usually pretty much the projects in South Florida.  Another undesirable location.  

I discovered a lot about that crap when I moved here.  I looked for places to rent and when I went and saw them and said "heck no!!" the realtor said "these are mostly low income and section 8".