The Rochester Housing Authority announced that they will be reopening the waiting list for Section 8 housing this September.
The rental assistance program uses funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help subsidize the cost of housing for low income families and individuals who meet program eligibility requirements.
The RHA announced the reopening of the list Tuesday morning, after it had been closed since 2009. At that time the list had more than 20,000 applications.
George Moses, Chairman of the RHA Board hopes that by reopening to new applicants, they will avoid the list becoming stagnant again.
"We're going to establish a process that doesn't one, take in so many and two, has an efficient process for folks to come through it."
Some members have been on the current waitlist for close to a decade, while others remained on the list even if their situations had changed, and they were no longer eligible for the program.
Moses says new participants will be accepted into the program at the same time a current participant exits, which will keep the numbers low.
He says moving forward, they hope to be able to reopen the list on a periodic, predictable basis.
The decision coincides with City Councilman Adam McFadden's recent resubmitting of legislation that would make it illegal for city landlords to deny a housing applicant using Section 8.
Moses says they hope to do a better job of educating people on who a Section 8 participant is.
"They're working. Some two and three jobs and this hand up that we're actually offering in housing assistance, helps to stabilize their families."
The program will be open to 3,000 new applicants September 12th at midnight, and remain open for one week.