More than 8,000 people apply in 2 weeks for housing assistance programs

More than 8,000 people applied for Section 8 housing vouchers and public housing assistance after the Columbia Housing Authority opened up applications for a two-week period that ended Tuesday.

The Housing Authority opened applications to be put on a waiting list for Section 8 housing assistance vouchers for the first time since September 2014 and collected 8,066 applications. The vouchers help reduce the cost of rental housing. There already is a waiting list of nearly 900 people to receive those vouchers.

More than 31,000 people applied for Section 8 vouchers when the applications previously were opened up in 2014, and 2,000 were accepted after a lottery.

Another 296 applications were submitted over the past two weeks for public housing assistance for elderly, low-income residents wanting to move into high-rise apartments on Marion Street and Read Street. That waiting list is about 4,000 people long.