Couple persevere trying to help octogenarian only to get caught in red tape

Aggravation is dialing and redialing the same phone number for more than five hours a day, only to get a busy signal. And I’m not talking dialing a few times a day when it crosses someone’s mind. I’m talking about dialing every three seconds from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., then starting again from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

Is there any more annoying sound? Imagine your frustration.

Is that any way to run a business? Well, actually, this is government.

From Monday to Friday last week, the Housing Authority of the city of Las Vegas was accepting applications for Section 8 housing vouchers. About 50,000 people in the valley probably qualify for the federal program to help the poorest by subsidizing rent. The authority was looking to create a list of 2,000 people to qualify for the program.

An 85-year-old man, whom we’ll call Sweet Old Guy because he’s afraid of retaliation if his name is used, was one who definitely qualified. His income consists of $1,000 a month from Social Security and a small amount he earns working 20 hours a week in a charity kitchen. He’s below the $22,350 income level for one person to qualify for the vouchers. His rent is $676. Clearly, SOG doesn’t have a lot of extra money.

He lives alone and has no family. He’s tiny, maybe 5 feet, 120 pounds, balding with white hair. A former maintenance man, he has arthritis and diabetes but manages to take care of himself.

He started dialing Monday, but it was too much for him. He gave up.

His real wealth? Two friends who dialed on his behalf for two days.

I wish I could reveal their names, but because one is a government employee, they too don’t want their names made public.

The husband dialed from home. The wife used her cell phone to dial from her office. Hubby calculated he was dialing every three seconds. On Day 2, the husband made it through to one of the five operators juggling 10 phone lines. He held for 45 minutes before the operator returned. Then it took him only 12 minutes to get SOG signed up.

The husband was jubilant. Help for the Sweet Old Guy was on the way. It was like winning the lottery.

“I’ve known him for 30 years, and he always helped everyone,” said the wife who helps SOG manage his finances.

Then I burst their bubble.

The 2,000 applicants probably won’t see those vouchers until 18 months or two years from now.

“This doesn’t mean you get a voucher,” Housing Authority Executive Director Carl Rowe explained to me and I later conveyed to the wife. “It means you get a background check with Metro and the FBI.”

Sounding crushed, SOG’s friends said they thought he’d start getting help in the fall.

With his age, he might never get the voucher.

Isn’t there a better way to sign up applicants from a pool of 50,000 competing for 2,000 vouchers?

Rowe said there wasn’t.

“We’ve done it this way the last couple of times,” he said. When people came to the office to apply, it ended up being horrible. “North Las Vegas had a mob in line.”

Computer applications don’t work. Many of the poorest don’t have computers.

“This is the fairest way we know how to do it. This way everyone has a equal chance at it. You just have to keep trying,” Rowe said, admitting it would be annoying and frustrating.

Under the voucher, the tenant pays roughly 20 percent of the rental costs, which represents 30 percent of the tenant’s income, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development subsidizes the rest, Rowe said.

Just 4,400 vouchers are available through the Housing Authority, so the 2,000 applicants are on the wait list to replace those who leave the program.

Sweet Old Guy may be poor and frail, but he’s a rich man to have such friends, friends who care enough to give of their time.

Many would think they’re too busy to spend time dialing for dollars for a needy man.

Would you, could you, do it?

Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275.