Tina McDaniel and JR Grunden of Bloomington went from experiencing homelessness to a one-bedroom apartment because of a federal program called the Housing Choice Voucher.
“I love the apartment,” said McDaniel, who is blind. “I'm glad I'm out and on my own. JR is here to help me.”
Tina McDaniel and JR Grunden at their apartment in Bloomington. (Bente Bouthier/WTIU)
It is, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, “the federal government's major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market.”
It’s one of the most effective programs to reduce homelessness and housing instability in a community, according to Forrest Gilmore, executive director of Beacon Inc., a Bloomington shelter and service provider for people experiencing homelessness.
Forrest Gilmore is the executive director of Beacon Inc., a Bloomington shelter and service provider for the homeless. (Bente Bouthier/WTIU)
The problem is getting off a waitlist and into housing. The average wait time for a housing choice voucher is nearly 250 days with the Bloomington Housing Authority.
The waitlist opens only occasionally to admit new applicants. More than 1,200 people applied in a 40-day period when Bloomington’s waitlist last opened in 2023.
As of July, there were 980 people on the waitlist.
McDaniel, 59, was staying at Wheeler Shelter for Women in Bloomington until it closed last September. She moved into Friend’s Place, a shelter run by Beacon, and she and Grunden started spending time together.
Grunden, 71, would ask her for cigarettes if he was out, but he would always pay her back, McDaniel said.
“I trusted him for eight months, nine months out of the year,” she said. “It took me that long to trust somebody.”
McDaniel has Anophthalmia, which means she was born without eyes. She likes to maintain independence but appreciates Grunden’s companionship.
“He doesn't take anything from me,” she said. “ Or if he gives me something, he doesn't want something in return.”
McDaniel and Grunden had applied for the housing choice voucher program before they met. When hers came up, they decided to live together.
Grunden cooks for both of them and helps McDaniel with her medication.
“She's a hell of a lady,” Grunden said. “And I love her. And, you know, we just click in more ways than you can imagine.”
Grunden and McDaniel share a love for coffee. While they stayed at Friend's Place, they would go often to spend time at Hopscoth Coffee. (WTIU News, Bente Bouthier)
Grunden said getting on the waitlist for a voucher wasn’t a problem. Finding a one-bedroom apartment in Bloomington was the challenge.
Entrance into the voucher program is not first come, first served. It’s a point-based system that prioritizes location and vulnerability of an individual.
Once someone receives a voucher, they have 90 days to find a place that will accept it.
About 400 landlords are registered to participate in the housing choice voucher program, according to Daniel Harmon, the program manager for The Bloomington Housing Authority. But only about half are actively participating.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development increased its budget for housing choice vouchers by $2 billion since last year, according to a May announcement.
But there is still a gap where more funding is needed, according to Harmon.
Daniel Harmon is the Housing Choice Voucher program manager for the Bloomington Housing Authority. (Bente Bouthier/WTIU)
More than 40 percent of people who receive a voucher sign a lease within thirty days. Around a quarter of voucher recipients find a lease in two to three months.
Overall, about 68 percent of people are who receive a voucher are successful finding a lease.
“I feel like that number should be much higher,” Harmon said. “It would have to be disheartening for someone to be eligible for the program to spend that time on the waiting list to get that help that they need, and then they go out just to be unable to find something.”
The success rate is up from five years ago, when it was 60 percent. The average housing assistance payment is $800 per month.
One of the big issues is availability of affordable housing units, said Gilmore of Beacon Inc.
He said many landlords don't accept them, even if their rental range is within what a voucher can pay.
Some states, such as Texas, have laws against income discrimination. So landlords can’t decline a prospective resident because they’re paying rent with a voucher. Indiana has no such law.
The number of people experiencing homelessness in the south central region of Indiana has remained stable, aside from an increase in 2019, according to the state. The number of people experiencing street homelessness, however, is on the rise.
Grunden and McDaniel are not among them.
Moving in with someone you met through the experience of homelessness has potential risks, Gilmore said.
“Relationships are tricky for all of us, and so there's unpredictability there,” he said.
But because McDaniel and Grunden knew each other before moving in together, Gilmore is optimistic about their future.
“I think if anybody’s got a chance of making it,” he said, “I think they do.”
