High rent adds to low income families’ plight
Editor's note: Today the Emerald continues a series
examining the various issues involved with housing in
Eugene. This article looks at low-income housing in
Eugene - the problems low-income people face when
trying to get inexpensive housing and the programs av
ailable for assistance.
By JANIE NAFSINGER
Of the Emerald
Housing isn’t getting any cheaper in Eugene, and no
one knows it better than the city's low-income population.
Many of those who find it increasingly hard to
come up with house payments and rent money receive
housing assistance through one of several programs of
fered here. But there’s not enough money to aid
everyone.
According to city figures, Eugene has 16,500 house
holds that are eligible for housing assistance — or about
45 percent of the population.
The figures come from Eugene’s Housing and
Community Conservation department (HCC), an office
whose main purpose is to attract more federal dollars for
various housing programs.
According to Robin Johnson, HCC housing expedi
ter, the amount needed to aid those who need it doesn't
begin to solve low-income persons’ housing problems.
Citing Betty Niven, Joint Housing Committee chairer,
Johnson says there’s enough money to subsidize only
about five percent of all housing.
She explains how the number of local low-income
families is determined: The Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) defines low-income as 80
percent of Lane County’s median income. For a family ot
four, the local median income is $414,500; 80 percent of
that is about $12,900.
A breakdown of the county’s low-income persons
show that 46 percent are families, 34 percent are families
headed by females and 20 percent are elderly. Johnson
says University students are not figured separately, al
though the University registrar’s office reports 72 percent
of its student population lived off campus in 1977.
“Subsidizing students is very restricted,” Johnson
says. A few student families are probably eligible for
housing assistance, she says, but single, non
handicapped students are not.
The three biggest housing problems faced by low
income persons are substandard housing, crowding and
a disproportionate amount of income spent on housing,
according to HUD.
‘‘Believe it or not, I’ve seen cases where people
spend all of their income on rent,” Johnson says. “It’s a
matter of priorities each month — pay rent or eat. It’s a
problem a lot of people face every day of their lives.”
Johnson does not come into much contact with such
cases, but someone who does is Jay Montgomery, who
heads the county’s Housing Client Counsel program, a
branch of Housing and Community Development.
Montgomery and her four staff members help their
clients find inexpensive housing and act as mediators
between landlords and tenants with money problems.
“Our main goal is to try to keep the renters where
they are — to keep them from getting evicted," Montgom
ery says. She explains the big problem is money. “Often,
they don’t have all the money they need for first and last
month’s rent and deposits.”
The counsel program staff has its hands full, too —
from last July to May 1, the workers handled more than
1500 cases. Montgomery says they average 10 to 20
clients a day now.
She regrets that the staggering work load makes it
almost impossible to handle more cases.
“It's very difficult to take student clients,” she says,
because there are so many of them.
Inexpensive housing is scarce, though, for
Montgomery’s clientele. According to her tables, the
average client earns about $407 a month. The average
rent paid is $192 a month, or about 47 percent of the
worker’s income.
In tight money situations, the staff members try to
help landlords and tenants reach an agreement so the
tenants will not be evicted for non-payment of rent. Usu
ally, it’s only a matter of time — maybe a few days —
before the tenants get enough money. Some are even
eligible for emergency welfare payments.
“It’s not easy, though,” Montgomery admits. “Emo
tions run high on both sides of the fence.
The success rate of keeping renters where they are
shows it isn’t an easy job. Of 202 recently closed cases,
only eight clients did not have to move to other housing.
The other clients found housing on their own. took rental
referrals, moved away or stopped contact with
Montgomery’s office.
The biggest program for new housing is HUD’s Sec
tion 8 program, which provides subsidies to private de
velopers. This is not a financing program, Johnson exp
lains; developers are subsidized only on completion of
construction projects.
“Because there’s no financing available, Section 8
hasn’t been too successful,” she says, although it might
get better through planned financial help from the
Oregon State Housing Division.
But private developers generally aren’t very in
terested in building subsidized housing, anyway, John
son says. They’re very wary of federal requirements and
red tape.
“Private developers end up spending a lot of time
and money when they get involved in federal projects,”
she says.
Non-profit developers are subsidized under a HUD
Section 202 program. Only one such project has been
undertaken in Eugene in several years — the current
150-unit housing project at 11th Avenue and Olive Street
sponsored by the National Benevolent Association.
The federal government isn’t the only one involved in
housing projects for Eugene. The Lane County Housing
Authority is currently working with the city on plans for
construction of a 25-unit and a 40-unit housing project.
The Housing Authority also runs the largest subsidy
program for existing housing. Funded by the federal gov
ernment, the program subsidized rent for low-income
families. Applicants receive a subsidy certificate from the
Housing Authority and then look for housing themselves.
This program, like all the others, has limited funds.
Johnson says the Housing Authority gets authorization to
hand out a certain number of certificates per year —
maybe 200. There is also a limit on the amount of rent the
certificate-holder can pay; if the rent is not low enough,
the prospective tenant cannot take it.
Too often, the federal government cannot keep up
with rising housing costs, and this makes it difficult for
these program participants to find housing that is cheap
enough.
“HUD’s requirements for what housing should rent
for are generally six months behind time,” Johnson com
ments.
For rehabilitating substandard housing, the city re
ceives a community bloc grant from HUD. This monev
can be used for any community project the city desires;
in Eugene, the funds are used to assist both homeowners
and “investor owners” (landlords) in rehabilitating hous
ing.
“This is a good, flexible program,” Johnson says.
The city of Eugene also uses part of its General
Revenue Sharing funds for housing assistance. Since
1973, about $550,000 of this fund, supplied by federal
grants, has gone toward housing.
“It’s unusual for a city to do this," Johnson says.
“Most other cities haven’t recognized their role in solving
housing problems. They usually only stick to traditional
city functions of police, fire protection and public works.”
Although $550,000 might not seem like much to
spend over a five-year period, Johnson says the city has
been successful in making it work to its full advantage.
The National Benevolent Association’s $5 million highrise
project is one good example of how dollars can stretch.
The NBA was $100,000 short of meeting HUD’s fi
nancial requirements for federal subsidizing. It appealed
to the city, which has granted NBA $65,000. Lane County
Commissioners contributed another $35,000 to the pro
ject.
“We're really getting a good deal for such a small
amount of money,” Johnson says.
Her overall comment, however, is less optimistic.
“We cannot even hope to approach the need” for
housing assistance, she says. “It just costs too much.”
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