Housing – Ozark Action, Inc.

Housing Department

The HUD Housing Choice Voucher Program (formerly Section 8) is the federal government’s major program for assisting very-low income families, the elderly, and the disabled to afford decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable rental housing. Rental Assistance allows families in southern Missouri to select their own home in the private rental housing market. Families may choose any housing that meets the requirements of the program. Generally, the family will pay 30% of their adjusted income toward housing cost (rent + utilities) with the balance in the form of rental assistance from the program, administered through the Howell County PHA.

Many families utilize rental assistance for a limited time while simultaneously working to improve other items affecting their lives.

Housing Rental Assistance serves over 500 low-income families annually through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program. Wait list priorities apply to all assistance.

For regular updates about wait list openings/closings or changes, follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter.

For information on getting on the wait list, continue reading below.

How to Apply

1. Complete the paper pre-application. To get the pre-app, visit the main office in West Plains, an outreach office in your local county, or click here for a copy to print out. We will also need copies of a social security card, birth certificate, and proof of income for yourself and for anyone in your home aged 18 or older. We will also need and proof of US citizenship forms filled out for everyone in the household. Some are included in the pre-application. Extra citizenship forms can be found here.

2. Visit the Howell County PHA website and fully fill out an application, including names, birth dates, and social security numbers for everyone in the household. We will also need contact information for the main applicant. If you can not fill out the online form you may print out an application by clicking here. We will need both the pre-application and either the online or printed application completed. Please tell us whether you filled out a full paper application or applied online.

3. If all of the above steps are completed correctly and you are eligible to receive assistance through the program, you will be added to the waiting list. We will contact you when it is your turn to attend a briefing to receive a housing voucher.