From Opportunity Home San Antonio's press release:
Opportunity Homes San Antonio has allocated 150 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) to South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless (SARAH) to assist the City of San Antonio in addressing the homeless population in the community. With more than 3,000 homeless in Bexar County, the need for increased housing options is critical.
HCV vouchers offer families in need the ability to rent from a landlord in the private rental market. Voucher holders have the opportunity to find suitable housing units where the owner agrees to rent under the HCV program. Opportunity Home will work with homeless families and individuals who receive one of the 150 allocated vouchers by connecting them with properties participating in the HCV program. Homeless service providers will be able to apply through SARAH to help their clients.
“Opportunity Home’s partnerships with community organizations such as SARAH are critical to helping address the growing homeless population in the city,” said Board of Commissioners Chair Gabe Lopez. “We are committed to working together to provide housing options for those in need and allocating these vouchers is one of myriad ways we can have an impact.”
Though Opportunity Home has existing partnerships with several homeless providers in the community, the organization and SARAH have a longstanding relationship. During the height of the pandemic, Opportunity Home allocated 100 vouchers to SARAH to assist families who were impacted by COVID-19 and experiencing homelessness. Opportunity Home and SARAH will continue to partner and work together to determine needs and capacity in addressing homelessness.
“We are grateful for Opportunity Home’s collaboration with SARAH to ensure we align resources for those in need,” said SARAH Executive Director Katie Vela Wilson. “This will be a new resource for our local homeless service providers to connect their clients and residents with housing opportunities in the community. Our homeless response system clients are wonderful housing tenants and have the added support of a case manager to ensure they stabilize, get connected to services and ultimately end their homelessness.”
SARAH was designated by the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as the Continuum of Care (CoC) Lead Agency in 2016 for San Antonio and Bexar County. The organization oversees the CoC Program, which has HUD funding dedicated to housing with services to prevent and end homelessness in the community.
CoC Program Grantees use Homelink, SARAH’s community’s Coordinated Entry System, to connect clients with available housing resources. Vouchers will be distributed based on priorities established in Homelink.
“We are proud to partner with SARAH to address the issue of homelessness in San Antonio,” said Opportunity Homes President and CEO Ed Hinojosa, Jr. “Our Housing Choice Voucher Program provides a valuable resource for families in need, and we are committed to working with our partners to ensure that everyone in our community has access to safe and affordable housing.”