Hundreds of San Diego County families who climbed out of homelessness during the pandemic now face the prospect of losing their apartments as a federal housing voucher program ends years ahead of schedule.

The Emergency Housing Voucher program, launched in 2021 with a promise to run through 2030, is running out of funding this fall, according to the San Diego Housing Commission. The program served 501 households countywide, many in East County communities. Recipients include survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking, disabled residents and seniors with an average household income of just over $17,000 per year.

Katrina Lewis, who used the voucher to escape homelessness and sex trafficking five years ago, credits her Mission Valley apartment with enabling her recovery. She now works part-time at a mall, sees a therapist for PTSD and has reconnected with family. "Being in a house, that has been the only thing I've wanted," she said. "Everything is falling into place."

But the Housing and Urban Development department notified local authorities last March that funds were depleting years earlier than expected. San Diego estimates its vouchers will end this fall, cutting off an average of $2,300 per month in rental assistance to 386 remaining households. The federal government provided no transition funding to move recipients into other programs.

Azucena Valladolid of the San Diego Housing Commission said the situation is unprecedented. "We've never experienced a situation where HUD has come back and said, 'We ran out of funds five years sooner than we thought,'" she said. Section 8 waitlists across the region remain closed, with San Diego not issuing a traditional voucher to waitlisted applicants since August 2022.

The housing commission has moved 67 households into project-based affordable housing units in San Ysidro and near Lincoln High School, but hundreds more declined those offers, citing location, unit size and the need to stay near jobs, schools and support networks. Without vouchers, families like Lewis' will be forced to either pay full market rent—often $3,000 or more—or face displacement. Housing officials are awaiting a ruling from HUD on waivers that could provide more flexibility, but no decision has been announced.