Last week, the Washington Post reported on a disturbing scene at the Hubbard Place apartment complex, which we witnessed firsthand.

Line for housing at Hubbard. Photo by Valencia Mohammed, AFRO.

“Hundreds of low-income area residents waited in line overnight Monday into Tuesday in Columbia Heights, hoping for the chance to rent an affordable apartment in a recently renovated complex.”

Many hundreds. We were there, too, with a number of clients who are trying to find housing. We waited in the long line, in the cold rain, for about two and a half hours — just a fraction of the time that many others waited. Some of our clients left soon after we arrived; others wanted to wait and see. We were told several times that the list had reached capacity, but people still stayed, just in case. When we were told that we all had to leave, the line still stretched around the corner up the block ahead of us.

This sad scene revealed the deep need for housing in our city. The Washington Post oversimplified the situation a bit with its explanation: “Many low-income residents spend months or even years on the city’s waiting list of 20,000 for public housing units or federal housing vouchers.”

In actuality, there are different waiting lists — one maintained by the DC Housing Authority, and others maintained by HUD buildings such as Hubbard Place, each with its own process. But their waiting lists are all very long. For the vast majority, the waitlist times typically extend years into the future — only a small fraction make it in months as the Post suggests.

At Bread for the City, we’ve developed a specialized program to provide targeted assistance that can help people make the best of this system. The Housing Access Program (HAP) supports clients as they navigate the complex subsidized housing system of HUD properties. From our first blog post on the program:

Our goal … is to make this whole process more efficient. Through the program, we keep an internal database of all the properties that are accepting new applications, including things like the application itself, income requirements, and a list of necessary documents (photo ID, birth certificate, Social Security card, and proof of income, to name a few). We can then provide clients with a customized list of housing options for which they are eligible, making their search much easier. This customized list alone can be very helpful for anyone undertaking a broad search for housing.

[The HAP program] is specially designed to assist individuals with limited literacy skills, limited mobility, limited transportation funds, and/or are living with chronic medical or mental health concerns. For them, it is an invaluable resource to have a case manager assist in completing the applications and work with them to gather necessary documents and complete and submit these applications.

Last week’s Hubbard Place waitlist day was a good example of this program at work. We organized HAP participants who would have had a hard time getting there on their own — making phone calls, mailing letters, and arranging van transportation for those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to get there. As a result, we showed up with 11 people — on less than a week’s notice.

In this instance, we met with disappointment. But we are pleased to report that the HAP program is working to find other opportunities here and there. In fact, on the very same day as the Hubbard fiasco, one of our clients signed a lease and received keys, and another’s name came to the top of the wait list and he went in for an interview.

These modest results are actually more encouraging than even we expected. When we launched the project, we were careful to make clear that this was not a short-term solution, and that it could take years before we saw real success. Already this year, we’ve helped nine people acquire housing.

Learn more about the fight to preserve affordable housing in DC, through our allies at ONE DC: http://www.onedconline.org

We’re relieved for these lucky few who can — with our active assistance — navigate the system effectively. And we are hopeful that the HAP program’s small successes will continue to accumulate. With support, persistence, and luck, some of those most in need can still find ways to make this system work for them.

But the vast majority of those in need have a truly daunting task. As ugly a sight as this scene was, DC residents need to know that it reflects the reality of housing in DC.

This Saturday, you can get involved in the effort to save affordable housing in the District: join the Housing for All rally, from noon to 2pm, at the MLK Library (901 G St NW0. Lunch will be served!