The Basics

There are several different housing programs that can help people who are disabled, young, elderly, pregnant, or who have low income. Some of these programs can help you with your rent, while others can help you be able to afford your own home.

The best known housing program is Section 8. Section 8 can help you in a few different ways:

• The Housing Choice Voucher Program (also called “tenant-based Section 8”) helps low-income people pay for privately-owned rental housing.
• Section 8 project-based housing helps people pay rent in specified private housing developments.
• The Section 8 Homeownership Program helps people with low incomes buy their own homes.

Besides Section 8, there are various other programs that can help you with rent, purchasing a home, or preventing your home from going into foreclosure. Some of these other programs are:

• Public housing — publicly-owned apartments with low rent
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) — helps people with HIV/AIDS and their families
• Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and ABLE Accounts — help people save up money to purchase a home.

There are also several programs that provide counseling for people who are having difficulty paying the mortgage on a house they own.

This article will explain these different programs and how you can apply for them. It will also explain how the Earned Income Disregard (EID) works. The EID makes it so that if you are getting benefits from one of these programs, have a disability, and get a job, you won’t have to worry about losing your benefit or having your rent go up immediately.