ABOVE: Dr. Imani Woody, Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key.
The D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs has announced that it is reaching out to the community for help finding homeless or “unstably housed” LGBTQ seniors 62 years of age or older for a recently launched city program to provide them with rental assistance for safe and secure housing.
The announcement says the program, known as Housing Older People Efficiently, or HOPE, is being operated jointly by the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affair and the D.C. Housing Authority in partnership with the D.C.-based LGBTQ organization Mary’s House for Older Adults.
Through a funding allocation of $348,964 approved by the D.C. Council for fiscal year 2021, the program has been given subsidized rental vouchers for 15 individual LGBTQ seniors or LGBTQ senior households.
Sheila Alexander-Reid, who serves as director of the Mayor’s LGBTQ Affairs Office, and LeAndrea Gilliam, who’s coordinating the housing program for the office, each called the program a first step in addressing an often-hidden problem of homeless LGBTQ seniors in the city.
“I can just say personally in interacting with all the clients and applicants that I have worked with so far, I know that they are very grateful,” said Gilliam. “And we have created an opportunity to improve the quality of life of LGBTQ residents through the D.C. Housing Authority and through this collaboration and partnership that we have.”
Gilliam and Alexander-Reid said Mary’s House, which is in the process of opening one or more group houses for LGBTQ seniors in the District, has helped the program locate LGBTQ seniors in need of housing assistance.
According to Gilliam and Alexander-Reid, the program is currently only available to LGBTQ seniors who are homeless or unstably housed, which the two said refers to someone who is homeless but staying temporarily with a friend or relative in a “couch sleeping” situation.
They said the program is also available to a homeless person who has been placed in one of the city’s group transitional housing facilities on a temporary basis and that requires the person to find permanent housing elsewhere.
Under the HOPE program for LGBTQ seniors, Gilliam said participants are required to pay a share of the rent equal to 30 percent of their income, which often comes from Social Security benefits. But if the individual has no income or if their Social Security payment is below a certain amount, the program pays the full rent.
The D.C. Housing Authority, which administers housing voucher and housing assistance programs for people in need in addition to LGBTQ seniors, arranges for landlords to accept people enrolled in the program and sends staff members to visit the apartments to ensure they meet city standards. The DC Housing Authority also ensures that the rent charged by the landlords is within normal market range, Alexander-Reid and Gilliam said.
The two said LGBTQ seniors who are approved for the program are responsible for finding an apartment on their own, but the program will assistant them with a list of available apartments and their locations if they cannot immediately find a place.
Gilliam said there are about six remaining rent subsidy vouchers left out of the 15 that are available for the fiscal year, which ends Oct. 1.
“But we have applicants for those six slots,” said Gilliam. She said the application process is ongoing and not all of those applicants will be approved, enabling others who learn about the program to come forward and apply for one of the remaining vouchers.
Japer Bowles, who serves as coordinator of a coalition of local LGBTQ organizations that lobbies the D.C. Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser for city funding for a wide range of LGBTQ programs, said the coalition had asked the Council to fund 20 rather than 15 vouchers for the LGBTQ seniors housing assistance program.
Mary’s House president and CEO Dr. Imani Woody told the Blade that she was hopeful the 15 approved vouchers for fiscal year 2021 would be considered a starting point, with more funding for additional vouchers for next year.
“We need at least 30 vouchers,” Woody said in referring to the number of LGBTQ seniors facing homelessness in D.C.
