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Mountain Projects warns Section 8 vouchers frozen, homelessness rising in Haywood County
Summary
Mountain Projects director told the Haywood County Board of Commissioners that the nonprofit'administered Section 8 voucher program is in a HUD-declared shortfall; the agency has frozen new admissions and the local voucher pool has fallen from 1,004 to 825 active vouchers, increasing housing instability locally.
Patsy Davis, executive director of Mountain Projects, told the Haywood County Board of Commissioners on April 7 that the local Section 8 voucher program is in a federal shortfall and the voucher issuance is frozen, worsening housing instability in Haywood and Jackson counties.
Davis said the program administers 1,004 vouchers for the two-county area but that HUD moved the agency into "shortfall status" in August, after rising rents increased the average payment per voucher from about $466 in January 2022 to $746 in March 2025. As people leave the program for any reason—death, increased income, relocation—Mountain Projects currently cannot replace them; Davis said 825 vouchers remain active.
The nut graf: Mountain Projects said federal funding lags the market-driven rise in rents, constraining the nonprofit'run voucher program and reducing the number of households it can assist at a time when waiting lists and demand are high.
Davis described multiple consequences: landlords leaving the program because market rents exceed subsidy payments, a closed waiting list of 552 applicants (415 from Haywood County) and an observed increase in people living in cars or facing choice-of-basic-needs tradeoffs. Mountain Projects closed its waiting list Oct. 31, 2024, and reported that 46% of applicants are households with children and 18% are elderly or disabled.
Board members asked for clarification about whether Mountain Projects lacked available rental units or funds; Davis said the county has rental units but the agency lacks federal subsidy dollars to pay vouchers. She said the program can request up to 120% of HUD fair-market rents to remain competitive with private-market offers but that the underlying HUD funding is based on the prior year and has not kept pace with local rents.
Davis and county commissioners said they have advocated with federal representatives and HUD; Davis said she and local officials, including county staff and representatives, have interceded with congressional offices but had not yet secured an unfreezing of vouchers. Commissioners urged continued, sustained advocacy with the congressional delegation and HUD.
The presentation included client examples in a handout Davis provided to commissioners: working people and persons with disabilities who cannot cover rent despite employment or public benefits. Davis said Mountain Projects is seeing an uptick in homelessness and households making life-altering choices about food, fuel or rent.
Ending: Davis asked county leaders to press federal officials to remove the freeze and noted that without action the program could have no reissuable vouchers for all of 2025. Commissioners said they would keep the issue before state and federal representatives and continue local advocacy.
