Housing Choice Partnership

On December 30, the City of Tyler Neighborhood Services Department opened its waiting list for the Housing Choice Voucher Program for the first time in six years. This federally funded program helps assist very l ow-income families, the elderly and the disabled to afford decent, safe and sanitary housing in the private market.

This year, the application to be placed on the waiting list could only be filled online. For this reason, Neighborhood Services met with several organizations, including the Tyler Public Library, to ensure people with no internet access in their homes could still apply. During the eight-hour period, a total of 2,224 applications were submitted. An estimated 230 people submitted the applications through and with the help of the Tyler Public Library.

The Library took several steps to guarantee the process to be safe, fair and as fast as possible for all the patrons. By 8 a.m. that day, the Library already had 50 applicants waiting to fill out their forms. Even though the Library does not open until 10 a.m., they responded by letting people in the lobby to escape the cold and making accommodations for people with disabilities. Since their computer lab only has 24 computers, Library staff created a system to keep track of the order applicants arrived to follow for the use of the machines.

“We have several heroes that rose up that day to meet the challenge,” said City Librarian Ashley Taylor referencing the Library staff. Neighborhood Services staff was also present during the process to answer questions and guide people. Several patrons mentioned they “would have never had gotten it done” if it wasn’t for the help of TPL and NBS staff. The department was able to place 150 names from the 2,224 applicants on the waiting list.

“We are hopeful that we will be able to open the list more often and move through the names without a five-year-long wait,” said Housing Manager Prentice Butler. “A faster process will result in fewer names on the waiting list every year and us being able to grant more families opportunities to apply for housing assistance.”