Thousands line-up for public assistance

by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - The village of Sinajana had a temporary boost in population today as the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority opened up the waiting list for public housing assistance. Thousands of island residents waited for hours in a line that stretched for several blocks outside the agency's Sinajana offices in hopes to be put on a waiting list for housing assistance.  

"Right now it's pretty hard," said Juan Camacho. "Thank God they have this Section 8 and GHURA." The Mangilao resident who was one of the thousands who stood in line today to apply for housing assistance from GHURA. He says the wait is worth it so that he may move out of his current living situation with other family members and make a home with his girlfriend and son.

The waiting list has been closed for the last five years, but GHURA executive director Marcel Camacho says the demand made it clear that now was the time to accept more applicants waiting for Section 8 and public housing assistance. "It may mean more work for our staff in managing the applications on a monthly basis, but what we'd like to do and what we discussed with our federal partners is that there's no reason why we shouldn't continue to take applications on a daily basis for all those who are eligible for the program," he explained.

GHURA printed 5,000 applications and estimates they'll need more considering the line of people who stood in line waiting today stretched for several blocks near the friary. Camacho says some even began lining up on Sunday afternoon to get on the list. "On the Section 8 side, as soon as someone vacates the voucher, we then take that voucher and go to the list and issue it to the person at the top of the list. On the public housing side, as soon as someone vacates our units we then would look for someone to place in that unit based on their preference for location and their priority cue," he added.

There are more than 3,000 families under housing assistance and Camacho says it's evident with the throngs of people today that many more need it.  The opening of the wait list is in line with the governor's initiative to provide more affordable housing for residents.

Although Tamuning resident Ruth Elemore only dropped her daughter to apply for Section 8, she shared Camacho's sentiment of not depending on public housing for the rest of their lives. "The way I look at some people, they feel they don't need to work that's why they stay in a $25 a month a house like Section 8, probably I see what's going on and what's happening to Micronesian people they depend on that," she said. "We can do our own for building our own and not depending on the public assistance and do our own to be financially independent."

Meanwhile, the lines were a bit overwhelming for the village as Sinajana Vice Mayor Robert Hoffman says they weren't expecting so many people today. "They were blocking driveways, they were blocking fire lanes, they were blocking access to the school and those were the concerns shared to us by the residents," he said.

Hoffman believes it might be best for GHURA to relocate to a bigger facility as it appears the agency has outgrown the building and there's a high demand for their services.

Meanwhile, for those who didn't make it to GHURA today, applications are also being accepted online. Interested families who wish to apply must include legible copies of a birth certificates for each household member, Social Security cards for each household members, and picture identification cards for all adult household members 18 years of age or older.

Section 8 Housing Program income limits 
$20,900 for a houshold of 1
$23,850 for a household of 2
$26,850 for a household of 3
$29,800 for a household of 4
$32,200 for a household of 5
$34,600 for a household of 6
$37,000 for a household of 7
$39,350 for a household of 8

Public Housing income limits
$33,400 for a household of 1
$38,200 for a household of 2
$42,950 for a household of 3
$47,700 for a household of 4
$ 51,550 for a household of 5
$ 55,350 for a household of 6
$ 59,150 for a household of 7
$ 63,000 for a household of 8