Champlain Housing Trust explains how homeownership centers and coordinated entry match housing units with people experiencing homelessness

During the March 12 meeting of the House Committee on General & Housing, members questioned how housing units funded or rehabilitated under the committee bill would be matched with households experiencing homelessness. Chris Donnelly of Champlain Housing Trust described how the program works in practice.

Donnelly said regional grantee organizations (including Champlain Housing Trust) operate departments commonly known as homeownership centers that handle underwriting, lending and program administration for certain housing grants and loans. When an owner completes work on a unit and a program requires matching to people experiencing homelessness, the grantee works with local coordinated-entry systems to identify an appropriate household from a regional list of people seeking housing.

Coordinated entry is a regionally organized system of homeless-service providers that maintains waiting lists and manages referrals; in Chittenden County, the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance is the local coordinated-entry structure, while other regions operate their own Continuum of Care or coordinated-entry bodies. Donnelly said coordinated entry provides the grantee with candidate households that meet unit size and service needs, and the grantee then finalizes the match and funding payment to the landlord or owner.

Committee members asked follow-up questions about voucher payments and tenant cost-sharing. Meeting discussion clarified that Section 8 or Housing Choice Voucher payments typically combine the tenant's required share (usually a portion of income) and the voucher payment up to HUD fair-market rent; local differences exist but the voucher plus the tenant's share make up the total rent paid to the landlord.

Ending: Committee members said the additional explanation was helpful; the committee planned to resume the hearing at 10:00 a.m. when witnesses are available.