Rents are high and housing vouchers are hard to get. So Philly is giving renters cash
The pilot program chose people on the city's long waitlist for housing vouchers to test how much direct cash payments can help. HUD, the federal housing agency, is interested in the possibility.
Angie Atkins has been on a waitlist for a federal housing voucher for the better part of a decade. During that time, her rent in northwest Philadelphia kept rising, year after year, until it was eating up three-quarters of her income.
"When I did my monthly budget, I had to live off $156 a month," she says. "It's crazy, and no public assistance or anything."
Atkins is 37, upbeat and quick to laugh. She manages an accountant's office. And as a single mom with two kids, providing food for her family has been a priority. She sold her car to save money. But in 2022, she fell behind on rent and faced possible eviction. Then, Atkins had a surreal moment.
"I literally was up at eviction court," she recalls, laughing, "and I got
