'People feel unheard': Lawmakers search for more answers to Maine's housing crisis
“It’s a horrible system that I got caught in,” said Lewiston resident Amy Sanchez, who spent three years on a waitlist for a federal Section 8 rental assistance voucher after leaving an abusive marriage. “I was on a waitlist for forever long.”
After navigating a gauntlet of means testing and twice appearing before a judge, she finally was able to secure a voucher and now pays $509 per month in rent. Sanchez also collects $1,700 per month in disability.
“In order to qualify for these programs, you need to have very little income,” she said. “For disability, you can’t work at all. So then you have to go through all of these steps to get help to pay for electricity, the cell phone, the internet, or qualify for food stamps. It’s a horrible way to help low-income people. It’s either all or nothing.”
Sanchez is just one voice in a sea of Mainers struggling to afford shelter. The state continues to grapple with a shortage of about 20,000 affordable housing units, with an estimated 27,000 Maine households on the waitlist for Section 8 vouchers.
Read more: https://mainebeacon.com/people-feel-unheard-lawmakers-search-for-more-answers-to-maines-housing-crisis/