- Michigan stopped issuing new housing vouchers for the state’s biggest low income rental program in 2024, citing a funding shortfall
- The waitlist for Housing Choice Vouchers has remained closed since July 2024, though nearly 60,000 people remain on the list, awaiting help
- Rising rent and an in flux federal budget may see pause continue through 2025, which could have serious implications for Michigan
LANSING — When Nichole Gibbs-Risner first learned that Michigan was pausing a housing voucher program to assist the state’s lowest income earners, she thought it was a joke.
Not because it was funny — but because she’d already been on the waitlist since 2021 and was teetering on the edge of losing her home.
More than three years later, she’s still waiting but now has less income, a larger rent payment and four maxed-out credit cards after the Denny’s she worked at in Ypsilanti closed.
Nichole Gibbs-Risner and her son have been awaiting a Housing Choice Voucher since 2021. (Courtesy of Nichole Gibbs-Risner)…