Prince George’s County residents had the first opportunity in a decade to apply for the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP).
A lottery system will be held to select 5,000 low-income applicants; an estimated 30,000 applications were filed.
Applicants will be notified of their status by late January. The program is federally funded and locally administered by the Housing Authority of Prince George’s County (HAPGC).
Calondra Young, an activist that lives in Laurel, is excited for the change this will mean in the lives of county residents.
“The need is very dire. The need is so dire,” she told WUSA9. “Families that have been asking for this opportunity for many, many years and it actually feels like Prince George’s is listening. The waitlist opening represents hope for stability, dignity, and safety for people like myself.”
LaWann Stribling, a small business owner who lives in Greenbelt, expressed great appreciation for what housing assistance has meant in her life.
“That voucher saved me as a homeless single teen, mom throughout my adulthood, to purchasing my home two years ago,” she said via social media. “I’m thankful, very thankful for the security of shelter throughout those years and beyond.”