About the Bloomington Housing Authority (BHA)

The Housing Authority of the City of Bloomington, Indiana owns and operates 310 units of conventional public housing in three developments known as Crestmont, Reverend Butler and Walnut Woods. All three sites are a mix of single story and town house units, efficiency through five bedroom units. Residents living in our affordable housing have a wide variety of services available to them.

The Housing Authority of the City Bloomington also manages the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program, also referred to as Section 8, that provides rental vouchers for close to 1300 families in the private rental market in Bloomington. BHA pays a portion of the rent directly to the landlord. This program allows residents to choose the place in which they want to live.

Two other programs the Housing Authority operates are the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program and the Homeownership Program (HOP).

The Family Self-Sufficiency Program encourages Participants to increase their earned income and become less dependent on government benefits. Participants sign a contract where they set the goals that they want to achieve in the next 5-years. The FSS Coordinator helps the Participant connect with community businesses, agencies and social services that will help the participant overcome the barriers to reaching their goals. The Housing Authority establishes an escrow account for the Participant for the life of the contract, in which funds are deposited to match the increases in rent that result from the Participant's increase in income. The Participant may access these funds during the contract in order to reach their goals and the balance of the account is disbursed to the Participant upon the completion of the contract. The head of household must be suitably employed to graduate and all household members must be free of cash welfare assistance.

The Homeownership Program allows qualified Participants to receive mortgage assistance instead of rental assistance. The candidate must be, or become, capable of qualifying for a traditional mortgage through a bank. A Section 8 Participant who expresses interest in owning a home will work with the Coordinator to determine what steps must be taken to become eligible and mortgage ready. The candidate must have some savings, must be a first-time homebuyer, must complete a HUD approved homeownership course, must meet employment and income requirements, and must have an acceptable credit score. The Coordinator will help the candidate meet these requirements by referring them to credit counselors and classes, government matched savings accounts, job training programs, mortgage officers, etc. Once the candidate meets the requirements, and is approved for a mortgage, they can begin the home buying process.