Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program
Funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program provides monthly rental subsidies to low-income working families, senior citizens and the disabled. The Grand Rapids Housing Commission (GRHC) administers the program in the Greater Grand Rapids area, helping households bridge the gap between what they can afford to spend on housing and the fair market rent of an apartment, townhouse or single-family home.
The GRHC is not currently accepting new applicants to our Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.
Information for those who applied to our Section 8 Program November 15-19, 2010:
The GRHC has drawn 3,000 applicant names by computerized random lottery, and these households have been added to our Section 8 waiting list. Computerized random lottery determined placement of new applicants on the waiting list.
Our Section 8 Administrative Plan requires that we serve Kent County residents before we can serve families applying from outside of the area. Since the GRHC received more than 4,300 applications from Kent County residents, those applying from outside of the county were not included in the lottery.
During January the Housing Commission sent each applicant a postcard via U.S. Mail that indicated whether the applicant was selected in the random drawing and added to the Section 8 waiting list. Applicants can also check their Section 8 status online at WaitListCheck.com.
Information for households that were on the GRHC's Section 8 waiting list prior to November 2010:
Households on the Section 8 waiting list prior to the November open application period have been "grandfathered" and will be served by application date regardless of county of residence.
We are currently serving applicants who applied to the Section 8 program in February 2004.
For current Section 8 Program participants:
Click Information for Section 8 Clients to get details about how the the program works and a link to Section 8 rental unit listings.
For property owners:
If you own rental housing in Kent County, Michigan, and you are interested in participating in the GRHC's Section 8 program, click Information for Property Owners. You'll find an introduction to Section 8 as well as useful links to relevant HUD forms and a MSHDA web site that offers free online listings of available rental properties.