Columbia Housing Authority marks 70 years as residents say housing needs remain
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Housing Authority, a non-profit that offers low-cost housing, is celebrating a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, marking 70 years of services.
But demand for its services continues to outpace available housing.
CHA serves over 2,000 households and nearly 4,000 people in Boone County and Columbia, according to the organization. Its work includes providing housing programs and support services, such as housing vouchers and rental assistance.
According to a recent survey of north-central Columbia residents, more affordable housing is needed.
Survey results were gathered through BeHeardCoMo and the North Central Columbia Association walking tour between Jan. 29 and April 5. Results are set to be presented at Columbia's Housing and Community Development Commission meeting Wednesday.
The survey had over 200 respondents, with participants given the option to respond to questions with either low, medium or high interest.
Over 61% of participants felt a high interest in building new affordable owner-occupied housing, and 68% of participants expressed a high interest in building new affordable rental housing.
Housing assistance was also of interest, with almost 53% of participants having high support for homebuyer assistance and homebuyer education, and almost 58% of participants highly interested in providing rental vouchers to unhoused people.
Of the eight BeHeardCoMo responses, half expressed a need for homes with amenities for disabled residents. Six responses mentioned issues with increasing rent costs and residents living on fixed incomes.
"Many of us are able-bodied enough to live alone but still cannot afford Columbia’s soaring rent and bills," said one response.
"Columbia must prioritize independent disabled adults on fixed incomes in all housing programs," said one response.
One also mentioned being stuck on CHA's housing waitlist for over a year with little movement.
"I've been on the waiting list CHA for over a year and barely moved down ten spots in that time," one response said. "A lot of those big companies will end up switching hands with another big company and then they will change the leasing agreement with the original tenant a lot of times."
Randy Cole, CEO of the Columbia Housing Authority, said 1,000 households are on the waitlist. According to prior reporting, over 1,250 households were on the waitlist on Jan. 15.
The waitlist includes low-income households enrolled in Section 8 who use federal housing vouchers. The agency previously said it does not expect the waitlist to open until 2027.
CHA's ribbon-cutting will begin at 4 p.m. at the CHA Administration Building on Switzler Street. It will feature speeches from Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick and Columbia Fourth Ward Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Nick Foster.
This is an ongoing story.
