TYLER, Texas — The Tyler city council adopted plans for their Family Self-Sufficiency and Housing Choice Voucher Program's upcoming fiscal years.
In a press release, Prentice Butler, Housing Manager for Neighborhood Services, provided updates on Neighborhood Service's plans over the fiscal year 2024-2025 annual plans and the 2025-2029 five-year housing agency plan.
The Family Self-Sufficiency Program is a five-year initiative focused on educating low-income families. It offers life skills guidance and helps to develop career skills by connecting participants to support services through case management. Participants work towards educational and career goals while meeting FSS program requirements over the course of five years.
21 people are currently enrolled in the FSS program, according to the city of Tyler. Of the group, 11 are employed, two are in educational programs and eight participate in other program-related activities.
The Housing choice Voucher Program provides housing assistance for low-income families, older adults and people with disabilities. Participants can choose housing among single-family homes, townhouses or apartments, and are not limited to subsidized units. As part of this program, a housing subsidy is paid to the landlord directly by the Public Housing Agency on behalf of the family in the program, who then pays the difference between the actual rent charged by the landlord and the amount subsidized by the program.
"There's always a need for affordable housing," said Butler. "We will continue to increase vouchers as HUD funding becomes available to assist our community members. It feels great to know that we've helped someone or a family have a nice, clean living space."
The Housing Choice Voucher program allocated 1,022 vouchers in 2023, including 39 vouchers for homeless veterans. The average monthly housing assistance payment to participating homeowners was $787,256, according to the city of Tyler. Since January, about $9 million has been approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and about $8 million has been granted to the Tyler Housing agency for participating families through HUD.