Using funding provided by an Emerging Needs and Opportunities (ENO) grant from Howard County, Columbia Housing Center recently launched a pilot program designed to provide case management and financial support to Howard County housing voucher recipients, guiding them through the process of finding a rental home from the time they receive their voucher to the day they get their keys, eliminating barriers to success along the way.

CHC is partnering with the Howard County Housing Commission (HCHC) and Voices for Children to serve their clients who have recently received vouchers and need a place to live. Columbia Housing Center works with these agencies and their clients to identify any existing financial barriers for the client, gather demographics and housing needs/preferences, and then help clients find a suitable unit in Howard County. Our staff guide the client through the application process, acting as a liaison with the landlord and HCHC. Additionally, we provide renter education to the client and funding on a case-by-case basis to remove financial barriers (apartment application fees, security deposits, outstanding rent balances, etc.). Our goal is to ensure that the client can find a suitable and safe home and their lease is executed before their voucher’s expiration date. A client’s case is complete when they have received their new keys and have plans to move in.

By making homes in Howard County more accessible to families with vouchers, we are helping them create better lives for themselves and their children, thanks to our county’s abundant resources and excellent education system. Welcoming voucher holders also helps maintain racial and socioeconomic integration in and around Columbia, bringing our community one step closer to James Rouse’s original vision of a city that would improve people. He said, “We must believe, because it is true, that people are affected by their environment…by space and scale, by color and texture, by nature and beauty, that they can be uplifted, made comfortable, made important.”

This program is only open to those whose vouchers have been issued by the Howard County Housing Commission or Voices for Children. For more information and an application, please contact [email protected].