Government shutdown could hurt local families in Section 8 housing

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – If the government shutdown continues, local families struggling every day will find life even harder.

Many of those families could lose housing stability.

“Due to the lapse in congressional appropriations for the fiscal year 2019, the U.S. Department of HUD is closed,” reads a statement posted on the federal Housing and Urban Development website.

With HUD closed, the Housing Authority of Bowling Green has until February before the organization has to dip into reserves, monies that would only last for about four to five months.

Once these savings are depleted, Housing Authority executive director Abraham Williams said he will be forced to make staffing cuts.

Those could include laying off maintenance, finance and management staffing for funds.

Even worse, Williams says families living in Section 8 housing will be hit hardest by the shutdown because they won’t have government funds to help them pay rent to their landlords.

These are families who already struggle daily to get by.

If the shutdown continues, the Housing Authority will do its best to keep families in their housing, Williams said,

But that will be even more difficult with slim staffing.

The full telephone interview with Williams can be heard below: