How Manhattan Housing Voucher Program Transformed Lives: Stories of Resilience

While her two great-granddaughters watched television in her apartment at Brookfield Residence, 75-year-old retiree Janet Webster shared how the housing choice voucher program has improved her quality of life for more than a decade.

“For somebody who is on disability — I was hurt on the job in Colorado — and with Social Security, and I didn’t put much in, the income levels I started out with were pretty low,” Webster said. “I’m doing okay now with Manhattan Housing Authority assistance.”

Webster worked as a legal assistant and later as a truck driver in Colorado. While working as a truck driver, she was injured and sustained a chronic disability.

Webster is one of the fortunate HCV tenants who initially didn’t face much trouble finding a unit she could afford and that was available to voucher holders, thanks in part to assistance from the Manhattan Housing Authority. However, this changed when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

“I didn’t have difficulty (finding housing) until COVID,” Webster said. “And everything raised in price.”

Fortunately, Webster found an apartment at Brookfield Residence, where she has lived for several years now. Thanks to the discretionary income her voucher has provided, she is looking forward to spending the summer with her five great-grandchildren.

“We just got our pool pass here,” she said. “And with having a little bit of money, I’m able to get treats for my great-grandkids.”

In addition to spending time with her great-grandchildren, Webster is embroidering 40 blankets to donate to law enforcement, who will distribute them to those in need during the winter.

Cliff Townsend, 63, a resident of Flint Hills Place, is a retiree, a veteran, and a former employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Postal Service. Townsend receives housing assistance through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, which combines the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s voucher program with case management and clinical services provided by the VA.

When he moved to Manhattan from Chicago five years ago, he struggled to find a landlord who would lease to voucher holders, despite having a high credit score and no criminal record.

“Trying to find an apartment was tough,” Townsend said. “People want to help veterans, but they often view those with Section 8 (housing vouchers) as poor troublemakers, so it’s hard for veterans to find a home.”

This experience frustrated Townsend because he didn’t want to end up renting from a slumlord.

Since securing his apartment at Flint Hills Place, Townsend has been able to attend group sessions where he learns how to manage his PTSD, helping him remain calm in crowds.

“Once I found a place, it really helped me, because I’m in my group to help with my PTSD,” Townsend said. “I had problems being around people. It (the voucher) really helped me because when I worked for the Post Office, I had lots of anxiety. It helped me stabilize my living situation. Without this program, I don’t know where I’d be. I’d probably be homeless.”

When asked what message he would send to landlords, Townsend encouraged them not to stereotype voucher holders and to consider them for tenancy on a case-by-case basis.

“They should not group everyone together,” he said. “Look at them individually. You’ll get some good tenants if you just give us a chance. Talk to us.”

In August 2021, U.S. troops and allies were evacuated from Afghanistan in Operation Allies Welcome, relocating many Afghan families to Manhattan.

Matiullah Shinwari, a special housing liaison at the Manhattan Housing Authority, Afghan national, and former interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, helps immigrant families find housing. He said that although Manhattan was largely welcoming to the Afghans who served alongside American soldiers, many refugee families struggled to find housing through the HCV program. Landlords either wouldn’t lease to them because of their vouchers or the properties didn’t offer units with enough bedrooms to accommodate the entire family, given HUD policies against crowding.

As a result, many Afghan families abandoned the HCV approach and instead moved into a Section 9 public housing complex. Thankfully, they adapted well, building a community where they celebrate traditional holidays and dine on cultural cuisine. Some of the children have even established a traveling cricket team.

Nevertheless, the source of income discrimination faced by the Afghan families, as well as Townsend and Webster, should not be ignored. While the residents featured in this column created stable situations for themselves, with and without the HCV program, imagine what they could accomplish if allowed to choose a home more freely.