VOUCHERS

demand to the pandemic, which impacted many workers and families.

Another theory comes from Reitz, who said higher demand could be because salaries and wages have not kept up with rising housing costs.

Unit scarcity

In addition to the lack of funding, LiFari said the lack of physical housing supply is a detriment to the function of housing voucher program.

“We just don’t have enough units,” he said. “We don’t even have enough housing to support folks that are above the poverty line … because we just abandoned building for one another.” e lack of units creates scar- city in the housing market, LiFari said. With high demand, competition and rents increase across the region.

As a result, “lower-income Coloradans are left on the outside looking in,” he said.

“ e program can’t run unless there’s houses and units where people live, right?” he said. “So, without that, we’re just creating this ‘Hunger Games’ construct.”

After being chosen for a voucher, the competition begins. People have about two months to nd a home to rent and sign the lease. But that’s not enough time for many folks to nd homes and Maracenas elds many requests for extensions for as many as four more months.

Even with these extensions, LiFari said the highly competitive market presents a challenging dynamic for people to nd vacant units within the time frame. Part of this is because renters must be approved for leases by landlords and there are many barriers that can work against voucher holders – from the potential for discrimination to criminal records

Is it a solution?

In LiFari’s eyes, the housing choice voucher program “only exists as medicine for a misdiagnosed illness.”

Although it certainly makes a di erence in combating homelessness, he said American society and government need to focus more on the root of the problem.

“ e program is a function of how we value people and how we value where they live,” he said. “We refuse to address the root cause of the illness because then we have to view how we view poverty.”

For Hernandez, viewing poverty realistically is important.

“Believe me — a lot of people don’t want to be depending on the government,” Hernandez said. “But at the same time, they need (vouchers) because it’s crazy out there.”

Although the housing choice voucher program is not perfect, LiFari said it still makes an impact.

“We have no other way that reaches the scale and has the complexity to be able to address individual housing markets, to drive housing stability and stave o extreme poverty and homelessness than this program,” he said.

And on top of that, Hernandez said it makes an important di erence in people’s spirits.

“It’s good for people to get (themselves) on the right track,” he said. “It’s a good thing to get your sense of, you know, you’re involved in society, you’re part of something.”