Requests for city housing assistance rise

By Kipp Hanley

Published: August 19, 2008

The spate of foreclosures that have hit Manassas and surrounding jurisdictions has helped contribute to another issue.

Government assisted housing—commonly referred to as Section 8 housing—could be on the rise for Manassas and Manassas Park residents based on early numbers, said city officials.

For the first time in two years, the Manassas Family Services Department opened its waiting list. Monday was the first day for applications and 236 people showed up to receive assistance.

Lines started forming at 11 p.m. the night before the office opened and snaked the length of the Center Street shopping center and back again.

Residents or employees of Manassas or Manassas Park are eligible.

With the application period open until Sept. 12, Family Services Director Ray Spicer said his department could receive well more than the 450 that were accepted in 2006. So far, the department has 300 in the system.

Helping to balloon those figures are the large number of foreclosures in the city. Through July 21, Manassas has more than 450 foreclosed properties—including 77 in the first three weeks of July.

In Manassas Park, more than 300 properties have been either bought or sold by banks or lenders in the last 15 months.

"The foreclosures not only are affecting property owners but renters as well," Spicer said. "The sad part for renters is that they are the last to know. Many are without any inkling that the property is in trouble."

And it's not just current renters who are seeking help or those who lost their homes.  Jasmine Fields, 19, wants to move out of her parents' house in         western Prince William County. However, the Stonewall Jackson High School graduate said the rent is too expensive to afford without some assistance so she came to apply on Tuesday.

Fields only makes $8 an hour as a records clerk for My Plumber in Manassas and said she probably can only afford an apartment around $200 a month.

Manassas is one of 47 communities that administer Virginia Housing Development Authority housing vouchers. VHDA receives its funding from U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.

Localities like Prince William, Loudoun, Stafford and Fairfax counties receive money directly from HUD and administer their own housing programs.

The last time Prince William County opened its list for new applications was 2005, said Housing & Community Development Director Elijah Johnson.

Johnson said that list opens and closes based on circumstances such as housing market conditions and turnover of people who have successfully weaned themselves off the need for assistance.

There are 600 people on the county's current list, a number that could expand by 2,000 if it was opened tomorrow, Johnson said.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-369-5738.