HAMILTON — Butler Metropolitan Housing Authority officials expect 5,000 applications for Section 8 housing to fly out the door Saturday, Oct. 3.

Doors will open and applications will be available at 9 a.m. at the New Life Vineyard church at 2470 Princeton Road in Hamilton and will close at 4 p.m.

“Unless we distribute the 5,000 before that,” said housing authority director Phyllis Hitte. “It could happen.”

The applications will put those who qualify on a waiting list for 996 vouchers for Section 8 housing. The list has been closed since 2005, and now has less than 70 people left in line, waiting for vouchers to become available.

The vouchers are “like gold,” because they give people mobility, Hitte said. They can be used to get people out of public housing projects, and can be taken anywhere in the country.

Already Friday evening, about two-dozen people were camping out to be first in line for the vouchers.

The need for low-income housing vouchers is evident in increasing numbers of vacant and foreclosed homes across the county that people can’t afford to live in because of recession, said Scott O’Donohoe, research specialist for Butler County United Way.

O’Donohoe said a survey last year found roughly 3,300 men, women and children in Butler County without a permanent place to live. “The problem is a lot bigger than any of us even know or see on a daily basis,” he said.

In addition to the voucher distribution, agencies such as Supports to Encourage Low Income Families, United Way and LifeSpan will be on hand to inform low-income people about available services.

“We’re hoping to have some people there so they can learn about food stamps, they can learn about help with utilities, they can learn about (Social Security),” Hitte said.

Applicants don’t need to bring anything with them, she said. “They just need to know who’s in their family (and) how much money they make.”

The applications are due back to the housing authority by the end of the day Oct. 12.

Applicants will be ranked based on whether they live in Butler County, are elderly, disabled, a veteran and how soon their application was returned. After today, the waiting list for local Section 8 vouchers will likely be closed again for several years, Hitte said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com.