When doctors told Morgan Jones his liver was failing, Jones had to worry about more than his health. At the time of diagnosis, the now 65-year-old Street Sense vendor was homeless.
Born in D.C., Jones had waited for a federal housing voucher for 27 years. His new liver issues, however, meant he couldn’t wait any longer.
Jones’s struggle for housing mirrors many in the District. The 2024 Point-In-Time Count recorded over 5,500 individuals experiencing homelessness in the city, up 14% from the previous year. The federal Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) offers low-income residents a chance at housing stability, providing a long-term federal housing voucher that enables individuals to rent an apartment. However, getting approved for a rare HCVP voucher means navigating through a sea of electronic paperwork and bureaucratic red tape – and don’t forget the other thousands of people already on the waitlist.
About 30 years ago, Jones said he was approved for a voucher, but a mistake sent the letter to the wrong address – a shelter where he previously stayed. Jones missed the deadline to use his voucher and was forced to re-apply.
“I’d apply over and over again. They didn’t give it to me for 27 years,” Jones said. Jones presumes he was denied for all these years because the government considered his residence at a communal shelter, Jeremiah House, enough. People living in transitional housing like Jeremiah House fit the literal definition of homelessness, as they lack a fixed, regular nighttime residence, but aren’t considered currently homeless, a label that gives priority on a housing voucher application.
There’s also a chance Jones was just too low on the list. D.C. closed its waitlist for HCVP vouchers in 2013. By 2022, the housing authority was just starting to house people who had originally applied in 2004. When names do come up, their contact information can be a decade old.
By the time Jones most recently applied for a voucher, the introduction of weekly dialysis treatments so weakened his body he could barely climb the shelter’s stairs to his bed.
After a renovation at Jeremiah House forced Jones to leave, shelter manager Dwayne Jones (no relation to Morgan Jones) stepped in to help Morgan Jones file a new electronic voucher application.
“He’s an older gentleman, so the technology was a setback for him,” Dwayne Jones said. The two dredged through sprawling digital documents, coordinated meetings with the D.C. Housing Authority, and made sure all materials were submitted on time. Morgan Jones credits Dwayne Jones as the key to securing the voucher.
“If I hadn’t had anybody who knew computer work I probably would have never got the voucher,” Morgan Jones said. “He took his time and helped me get my voucher. I really appreciate what he did for me.”
The two finished the application in 2024 and received an approval letter in the mail nearly a month later, Morgan Jones said. Morgan Jones said he moved into his new apartment about three months ago. He believes his deteriorating health made his case more urgent to the D.C. Housing Authority.
As the voucher and rental processes become more digital, elderly individuals experiencing homelessness become more distanced from the chance at a home. One in three older adults feel they don’t have the digital skills needed to take advantage of being online, according to an AARP (previously known as the American Association of Retired Persons) annual report. Getting a housing voucher is an involved, time-sensitive process that requires emails, PDF uploads, and exchanging e-signed documents. The process can be overwhelming for someone of good health who grew up in the digital age; Morgan Jones said it was nearly impossible for a 65-year-old going through dialysis who knows one wrong step could mean years more of waiting.
“If you don’t sign the right thing or you miss out on a call, you can lose your voucher,” Morgan said. “You only have six months to find a place to stay. You go to the back of the line from my understanding.”
Older residents are the fastest-growing group of unhoused people in the U.S., according to a Department of Health and Human Services report. In Maryland, adults aged 65 and older facing homelessness rose 77% from 2018 to 2024, state data revealed.
Today, Morgan Jones is in good spirits and immensely proud of his new place. He resides in a quiet and clean apartment, thanks to the HCVP voucher program. There are elevators where long staircases once stood. An unstable shelter has been replaced by a peaceful, protected place to rest and recover.
“If you don’t do dialysis, you will be dead within a year,” Jones remembers doctors telling him after he was first rushed to the hospital. Today, he credits his voucher with not just getting him an apartment, but saving his life.
