‘Hear Our Voices’ Podcast: The Ideal Housing Voucher

Housing vouchers, which typically cover a portion of a participant’s rent, are a key tool to fighting homelessness in an increasingly unaffordable city. But they can be hard to use. Host Kadisha Davis discusses those pitfalls and asks listeners to share what an ideal voucher program would look like to them.

Housing vouchers, which typically cover a portion of a participant’s rent, are a key tool to fighting homelessness in an increasingly unaffordable city like New York.

But they can be hard to use. Voucher holders often face discrimination in the city’s competitive rental market, and some assistance programs are bogged down by bureaucratic hurdles.

On the latest episode of the Hear Our Voices podcast—which shares stories, resources and information about family homelessness in New York City—Host Kadisha Davis discusses those pitfalls and asks listeners to share what an ideal voucher program would look like to them.

The question isn’t all hypothetical: this year, New York State committed to launching a pilot program for a new voucher, dubbed the Housing Access Voucher Program (HVAP), eligible to households experiencing or at risk of homelessness, regardless of their immigration status. It’s expected to launch next spring.

At the same time, Mayor Eric Adams and the NYC Council have been locked in a court battle over expanding access to New York City’s rental assistance voucher, CityFHEPS. Among other changes, councilmembers want to raise the income eligibility threshold—from 200 percent of the poverty line to 50 percent of area median income, equal to $81,000 a year for a four-person household.

To Davis, raising that threshold is key to an effective voucher program. “I think especially in this economy, a lot of people are working multiple jobs” to afford their housing, she said.

You can listen to the full episode below.

Editor’s Note: The “Hear Our Voices” podcast is produced by the Family Homelessness Coalition, whose members include Citizens’ Committee for Children, a City Limits funder.