Judy Garcia of Hanford opened a letter from the Housing Authority of Kings County last Monday that carried nothing but bad news. It stated that the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher she relies on to pay her monthly rent would be reduced from $809 to $586 beginning July 1 -- and she was not the only one affected.

"I understand California's in a budget crunch but that could make a lot of us homeless and that's my biggest fear," Garcia said.

She is among 563 Kings County residents who received the letters earlier this month notifying them that their vouchers would be reduced due to a serious shortfall in funding for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program.

The program is short by $400,000 for the 2009 calendar year and is one of 400 other housing authorities across the country facing the same predicament, said Bob Hoskins executive director of the Housing Authority of Kings County.

"Originally we were looking at terminations but we feel this is the best for our agency and the clients ... and the landlords, too," Hoskins said.

The agency was faced with the choice of either canceling up to one-fourth of the vouchers entirely or reducing payments and continuing to provide assistance to its voucher holders. Payments were decreased for 563 of the 640 clients helped by the housing authority, Hoskins said.

"We are estimating that this (reduction) will be six months but it could be a little bit longer," Hoskins said.

He said they recommend those affected to ask their landlords for a reduction in rent but Garcia said that is a long shot.

"He said he can't because he has mortgage payments," Garcia said.

The 42-year-old mother of three adult children has relied on the Section 8 housing voucher to help pay her rent for two years because her monthly disability benefits from Social Security do not meet her monthly expenses.

Her disability payments will also be reduced by $20 on July 1 to $850 because the state's budget crisis has forced California to decrease its payment amount.

She said that she has been on disability for 10 years since she was diagnosed with grand mal seizures that do not allow her to drive or function normally.

"I'm not trying to rip off the man, I'm just trying to live," Garcia said.

Doctors deemed it necessary for her to be around someone 24 hours a day because of her health condition, so now she lives with her ex-husband in a three-bedroom home. She said due to severe diabetes he is able to contribute very little to the household because he relies on his disability payments, which are $700 per month.

The rent on her three-bedroom home is $1,100 a month, which may seem extravagant by some standards.

"I want to be able to live in a house," Garcia said. "I feel like why should I have to be confined to a small apartment?"

Asked about the possibility of moving where the rent is cheaper, Garcia said she cannot afford to because of the deposit and moving expenses.

Residents in certain low-income brackets are accepted into the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, which qualifies them to have a portion of their rent paid based on a payment standard that is equal to a fair market rent that has been determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

In order to reduce its payments for the voucher program, the Housing Authority of Kings County requested that HUD approve the reduction beginning July 1 for all of its clients.

Garcia said it was already hard for her to pay her monthly bills prior to the reduction, but losing $223 from the housing authority coupled with the $20 reduction in her disability check will be hard to handle.

"I'm not asking for pity, I'm asking for answers," Garcia said.

This reporter can be reached at 583-2427.

(June 22, 2009)