ORLANDO, Fla. — The clock is ticking for those who wish to submit their application for the Orlando Housing Authority’s (OHA) Public Housing Waitlist program.

Applicants will have until Wednesday, July 17 at 11:59 p.m., to apply for income-based housing in Orlando and Orange County.

What You Need To Know

  • The Orlando Housing Authority received 14,000 applicants in over 24 hours for its Public Housing Waitlist program

  • OHA Chief Executive Officer Vivian Bryant says only 1,300 public housing units are available

  • On Tuesday morning, OHA's website was experiencing delays caused by the high volume of applicants

  • The deadline to submit applications is Wednesday, July 17 at 11:59 p.m.

This is the first time since 2018 that the OHA has reopened its public housing waitlist applications.

Since the program does not come around often, applications have been flooding in.

OHA Chief Executive Officer Vivian Bryant says they had already received 14,000 applicants since pre-applications became available on Monday, July 15 at 12:01 a.m., with 10,000 coming from the Orlando area.

Bruni Alfaro has been living at the Hampton Park Public Housing complex for seniors since 2017.

Even her mother, Matilde Roman, who has a community room named after her because of her involvement in the community, lived there.

It’s one of OHA's many affordable housing complexes in the Orange County area.

Alfaro explains that “as a senior, it’s been a blessing. Especially if you’re in a fixed income. The way things are nowadays, I probably would’ve had to move in with a family member and not live on my own.”

She says that being able to live a normal life without struggling to pay for rent is more than she could ask for.

Not to mention, she adds, that she’s got all the facilities she needs at her disposal.

“You have your laundry room. You don’t have to step out and do your laundry. You get your mail indoors. You don’t have to step out. And trash … everything is indoors," Alfaro says.

She says the OHA gave her a place to call home.

Now that the OHA opened its public housing waiting list applications again, Bryant is hoping to help many others like Alfaro find a place to call home.

But she warns that it will be a lengthy process because there’s a real need for affordable housing at the moment.

“We have 14,000 households on the waiting list now who’ve applied. We only have 1,300 public housing units," Bryant says. "So it would take us more than a year to serve those households.”

To make matters worse, the only way a spot frees itself up is when someone leaves a vacancy.

But she says no one leaving right now.

“If they’re in affordable housing, there’s no incentive to move,” Bryant says.

The high number of applications received between Monday night and Tuesday morning created delays on the OHA’s website.

So much so that they issued a release recommending that applicants “click the ‘submit’ button only once” and “only log on to the ORL-OHA.org website during off-peak hours.”

However, Bryant says that there is no need to panic because when it comes to these applications, it’s not the time and date of the applications that count. It’s whether the applicant meets the “selection preferences” or criteria by the Wednesday, July 17 deadline at 11:59 p.m.

Bryant says, “We have a preference for our households that are disabled and elderly and for working households.”

Other preferences that can put households at the top of the list include veterans, Orange County residents, graduates of verified transitional housing programs or applicants who have been in the OHA’s home ownership program.

As for Alfaro, she says she knows firsthand how frustrating the application for public housing can be. But she tells applicants not to give up hope because once you find your home, it’s well worth it.

“It’s been great. I have no complaints, I’m very grateful,” Alfaro says.

She also thanks Bryant for building a public housing complex that “blends in with the community” to avoid “standing out like a sore thumb,” she adds.

“When you live in public housing or affordable housing, people tend to brand you or something, but that feeling’s not here,” Alfaro says.

Bryant reminds people interested in applying that in order to apply, applicants must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen or a non-citizen with eligible immigration status and be income eligible.

She adds that there is a strict verification process to make sure every applicant’s information is correct.

Bryant warns that if the information isn’t correct or the applicant alters the application between the time that it’s submitted and the two-week verification period, that person could lose his or her place in line.