Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation (KCDC) has been awarded 38 additional Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Program to help local residents ages 18-61 with disabilities secure affordable housing. 

The program assists very low-income families and the disabled to afford decent, safe and sanitary housing in the private market.

“These vouchers will fill an identified need in our community,” KCDC Executive Director and CEO Ben Bentley said. “We help the recipients navigate the process, and now 38 additional families will have access to affordable housing in areas across Knox County.”

The organization applied for the additional vouchers in August of this year and received notification from HUD on Dec. 18 that an additional allocation of $211,589 had been approved for the Mainstream program.

In November 2018, KCDC was awarded 50 Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers for the program, part of HUD’s $98.5 million initiative in new funds to assist housing authorities nationwide to subsidize rent for 12,000 non-elderly persons with disabilities. Through that competitive process, KCDC received $236,568 in 2018 to help 50 local residents subsidize their rent or mortgage payments, enabling them to live independently.

Housing units eligible for the program must meet established standards of health and safety, and a housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by KCDC on behalf of voucher recipients. The recipient then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program.

More than 400 non-elderly applicants are on a waiting list to receive a voucher, and the 38 vouchers are a net increase in the affordable housing supply in Knoxville.
“Our Section 8 staff and Debbie Taylor-Allen, the Section 8 housing director, in particular, did an outstanding job of securing the vouchers and funding,” Bentley said. “We will continue to pursue programs and means of funding that address specific needs in our community for affordable housing.”

For more information about the Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Program or Section 8 affordable housing in Knoxville and Knox County, contact KCDC’s Section 8 Housing office at 865-403-1234 or visit http://www.kcdc.org.