Decibel
‘Where Do They Go?’: Voucher Holders Struggle To Find Housin
Clip | 5m 37sVideo has Closed Captions
Austin is the second-worst city in the country for housing voucher holders to find a home.
Austin is the second-worst city in the country for housing voucher holders to find a home. But when Jessica Vasquez’s landlords decided not to continue their contract, that was the world she was forced to navigate–or go homeless
Decibel is a local public television program presented by Austin PBS
Funding for Decibel is provided in part by Texas Mutual and Roxanne Elder & Scott Borders
Decibel
‘Where Do They Go?’: Voucher Holders Struggle To Find Housin
Clip | 5m 37sVideo has Closed Captions
Austin is the second-worst city in the country for housing voucher holders to find a home. But when Jessica Vasquez’s landlords decided not to continue their contract, that was the world she was forced to navigate–or go homeless
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[water running] [Jessica] I've been here for a week?
A week.
[scrubbing surfaces] I backdoored three days straight to five in the morning putting my house together.
I did it for my kids.
I did it for my sanity.
I wanted to feel home.
I wanted to feel at home.
And if I would have let the depression get to me and all of the things that I had to go through to get here, I'd probably be still sitting in boxes.
[soft music plays] At one point, my speech when I was looking for apartments was, 'Hi, 'my name is Jessica Vasquez.'
'I'm on Section Eight.'
'I'm a single mother of three kids.'
'I'm a nonsmoker.'
'No pets.
I'm very clean.'
'Been at my job for two years.'
That sucks.
That I had to sell myself to be able to get a place to stay.
But I had to do it.
There's not a lot of apartments or places that want to take Section Eight.
[boxes sliding] [Jessica] I did not want to move.
These ------- boxes, I don't know how to get into it.
I've been a resident for eight years at my apartment homes.
I considered it my home, not just a place to rent.
And this year I was told that they would not be renewing my lease.
There was no specific reason given.
It's just we're not going to renew.
And in the state of Texas, they have that option.
If I did not find a place, I would have lost my voucher.
No more Section Eight.
You would be homeless, [tense music plays] It's not like if you walk in anywhere and be like, 'Oh, hey, I like that apartment.'
'Can I sign it?'
You know, like a normal person?
Say that again?
You call, and you call, and you call.
And about 50% of them tell you, no, we're not taking it.
And then the other 20% have waiting list.
You have to meet certain requirements in certain apartments.
Some apartments tell you that you still have to make the two times the rent or the three times the rent.
Now, how does that work for a person on Section Eight?
Some apartments will not accept you.
Your voucher amount is a certain amount.
You got to have the deposit.
Section Eight doesn't pay that for you.
Plus your movers.
That's a lot right there.
Once you find a place, they have 15 days to approve it.
I couldn't have two inspection packages out If it's not approved, there's no backup plan.
They inspected my unit, I believe, the 28th, and I moved in on the 31st.
I'll unload it, just ------- push it over there.
Those were the most stressful three days of my life.
I do not know where I was going to go, what my options were going to be or what I was going to do.
I'm exhausted, like I'm literally about to wanna cry and give up, but, that is not an option.
I had so many little breakdowns that I had to really like at one point focus and tell myself I got this.
I was blessed have a place and that we weren't left on the street.
And I'm thankful for the program.
I just I just want to bring awareness how hard it is with this program to move.
And a lot of it is them trying to get, you know, higher rent.
We can't do that, so we got to go.
Where do we keep going?
We're kind of just throwing away Austinites.
[solemn music plays] My dream house is to have a really nice backyard.
I love to do art.
I want a little art studio.
I want to be able to like, get up, have my coffee and go do my art.
I like to be like the community mom, where the kids come over and they have snacks, and to just have something that I can call my own, that nobody can come and say, Hey, we don't want you here this year.
You got to go.
Or you know something where that you can know that it's permanent and it's that's you, that's yours.
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