If you are in need of affordable housing, you may be eligible to apply for the Woonsocket Housing Authority’s Housing Choice (Section 8) voucher program. Qualified households with vouchers pay between 30-40{3d5fc1568fd42a382af012129833e0b55bbceb0ea8d91932e9edbceefb6bf687} of their monthly, adjusted income towards rent and the WHA pays the remaining amount Below is a summary of the criteria used to determined eligibility for a WHA Housing Choice voucher.

To be eligible for a Housing Choice voucher, your family must meet the following requirements:

1. You qualify as a family, as defined by the WHA. A family is defined as a single person or group of persons related by blood, marriage, adoption, affinity, or operation of law that live together in a family relationship.
2. Your family’s annual income does not exceed 50 percent of the area’s median income. Certain families whose annual income is between 51 and 80 percent of the median may qualify if they meet additional criteria, as well.
3. You must provide documentation of Social Security numbers for every family member 6 years of age and older.
4. Eligible families must have citizenship, national or eligible immigrant status. (Families with members who do not meet this qualification may be eligible for prorated assistance.)
5. No family member has been evicted from federally assisted housing within the past five years.
6. Each adult family member must sign consent forms authorizing the WHA to obtain certain information.

There are additional requirements for admission to the WHA’s Housing Choice Voucher Program, including a check for criminal history for all adults in the family.

(Please note: It is difficult to summarize on this website the intricate regulations and policies governing our eligibility determinations. Please consult the WHA for a more detailed discussion of eligibility criteria.)

A public housing authority can establish local preferences to determine the ranking of eligible applicants on the waiting list and the order in which vouchers are awarded. Based on our community’s needs, the WHA has set the following admissions preferences for its Housing Choice Voucher program:

• Self-Sufficiency (1 point)- employed or enrolled in an educational/training program
• Military Service (1 point) – active duty, honorably discharged, or surviving spouses
• Displacement (1 point) – due to disaster, government action, domestic violence, homelessness, witness protection, or certain owner actions
• Residency in the City of Woonsocket (1 point)
• Applicants paying more that 50{3d5fc1568fd42a382af012129833e0b55bbceb0ea8d91932e9edbceefb6bf687} of income for rent (2 points)
• Residency in the State of Rhode Island (1 point)
• Disabled Veterans (4 points)

** Please note that preferences listed here may be slightly different than those listed on the centralized S8 wait list website due to programming restrictions on that site.