On Feb. 8, nearly 2,000 households applied for vouchers to cover the cost of housing in Boulder County — but the county has only about 100 additional vouchers to issue this year.
The Boulder County Housing and Human Services department accepted applications for one day only, and a lottery will be conducted to select a list of applicants to determine eligibility and award vouchers. Jim Williams, spokesman for the department, said the county received 1,941 applications for vouchers.
“Federal housing assistance such as these vouchers is limited for each community that receives them, and in Boulder County — as in many other places across the country — the need far outweighs the available financial support,” he said via email.
He added that the average annual household income for housing voucher applicants was $21,745. Applicants must earn 50% or less of the Area Median Income for Boulder County, equal to $43,900 for a household of one or $62,700 for a household of four.
About one in three of the households identified as Hispanic or Latino, while one in ten identified as Black or African American, Williams said. Both are notable disparities as just 14% of Boulder County residents are Hispanic or Latino while 1.2% of residents are Black or African American alone, according to U.S. Census data.
Female heads-of-households made up 69% of applications, 44% were from households containing someone with a disability and 23% were from people aged 62 or older.
Williams noted that the majority of housing voucher applications came from east Boulder County, with Longmont households comprising 43% of applications, Lafayette at 11% and Louisville at 4%. He added that 38% of applications came from Boulder households.
Williams encouraged people unable to receive housing assistance to reach out to the Housing and Human Services department to explore other supports that may be available to them, such as food, financial and utility assistance, or health coverage, to help pay other bills. There is also support for people facing potential eviction.
Applicants will soon be assigned a number and notified by mail, with numbers selected in the lottery to be posted online at www.boco.org/hcv. Winners will be contacted for next steps.
