A Win for Emergency Housing Voucher holders in Alameda County

In June 2025, Maya Morya Selkie Scott (legal name Maya Scott-Chung, pronouns they/them/MerPurr) got a letter in the mail saying their Emergency Housing Voucher was set to expire by the end of 2025. The money had run out for this federal program. So Maya organized. With support from SDA and many other groups, Maya reached out to multiple folks at the Housing Authority of Alameda County (HACA). They contacted their Supervisors and the Mayor. They had folks they know who had closer ties to elected officials reach out to them. And they kept hearing, “keep making noise!”

We were all prepared to launch events and actions to keep the pressure up and then Maya got a second letter. This one with great news, saying that Alameda County residents will get their Emergency Housing Vouchers transferred to HUD Housing Choice Vouchers (i.e. Section 8 vouchers)! But the fight is not over. While Alameda County Emergency Housing voucher holders have a solution, other housing authorities, including San Francisco, have yet to provide Emergency Housing Voucher holders with any promise of further housing.

Reach out to Ocean at ocean@sdaction.org and Shaya at shaya@sdaction.org if you would like to get involved in fighting for San Francisco voucher holders to keep their vouchers! You can reach out to Maya and Keirra, our SDA East Bay Peer Advocates, to organize with Alameda County and Contra Costa county HUD-funded voucher holders. Contact them through Community Resource Program Manager Damara at damara@sdaction.org.