Housing help going unused in Sioux Falls

Finding housing help in Sioux Falls can mean years of waiting.

But much of the federal assistance aimed at helping low-income families pay rent is going unused, according to a budget report presented this week to the city’s housing authority.

Delays in federal budget-setting is contributing to an abundance of unused Section 8 housing vouchers, said Shireen Ranshau, executive director of the Sioux Falls Housing and Redevelopment Commission. Staffers for her department are shuffling paper work and working with applicants to move through the backlog.

“We’re struggling,” Ranshau said. “We’ve been working at contacting people every two weeks. Doing the processing to make sure they’re eligible.”

For years, the gargantuan waitlist for Section 8 housing vouchers in Sioux Falls has been immovable. When Ayana Davis first joined the list in 2011, the Sioux Falls resident was behind thousands of other people who needed government assistance to help pay for shelter. The waitlist has fluctuated since 2010, but never dropped below 3,200 people.

It meant years of waiting, even though the 39-year-old was a single mom with four kids and one nurse’s salary.

“When you have four children and you raise them alone, the window closes really quickly,” Davis said.

Housing officials in Sioux Falls trimmed the waitlist to 2,529 last month in their effort to increase the department's so-called “utilization rate” for vouchers. The rate reported to the housing commission this month, 91 percent, is low. It reflects a large number vouchers available, but unassigned.

The group can give out 1,870 vouchers each month to low-income residents who need help paying rent. Last month, 170 of those vouchers went unused.

Aid amounts vary depending on the family, but a housing voucher can lift away hundreds of dollars from the monthly bills.

For some parents, it means more to spend on food. For others, it frees up money to cover medical expenses.

For Davis, it means reunited with her daughter. With her three older children away at college, Davis was forced to put her youngest up with family after an illness cost her a job and forced her to seek shelter at the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House.

Overcome with emotion, Davis tried to put into words the depth of the bond between parent and child.

“These are children that have only had their mother their entire lives,” Davis said. “She’s my youngest. She’s my baby.”

Housing vouchers make up the biggest chunk of funding for the Sioux Falls housing authority, and relies entirely on money from the federal government.

RELATED

• Housing hopes on ice for ex-cons
• Builders shy away from low-income housing
• Developer backing off Lacey Estate project, for now

Ranshau and her staff often spend months in the dark on how much money they have to spend because of hemming and hawing in Washington D.C. The agency’s fiscal year starts and ends in October. Congress didn’t set a budget until March.

“We’ve been really contacting a lot of people, trying to use up the funding that we have,” Ranshau said.

The vetting process isn’t easy and it takes time to find housing. Some on the waiting list have a history creating a barrier between them and housing, Ranshau said. Some have substance abuse problems or criminal backgrounds.

“Even if it’s not going to stop them from getting a voucher, it stops a landlord from renting to them,” Ranshau said.

Then there are those who aren’t eligible or don’t respond. A lot can change in four years.

Davis sent three kids to college. One graduated. She was diagnosed with lupus, an auto-immune disorder. Lost her job. Lost her home.

Davis is happy it’s in the past. She has a home again, just in time for the holidays.

“All my children say, ‘Mom we’re coming home for Thanksgiving,” Davis said. “Yes, you guys are coming home for Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for this year.”