photo by: Bremen Keasey/Journal-World

The Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, located at 1600 Haskell Ave.

Because of its long wait list, the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority will temporarily stop accepting applications for a program that helps people who were homeless find stable housing.

In a news release on Wednesday, LDCHA said the City HOME Transitional Housing program, which offers temporary housing assistance and support services to help households transition from homelessness to stable housing, will stop accepting applications on April 11.

LDCHA said that, like many other public housing authorities, it is facing a shortage of affordable housing, and the City HOME Transitional Housing wait list currently exceeds four years. While applications will no longer be accepted after April 11, this will not affect individuals who had already applied before that date.

“Keeping the HOME waiting list open indefinitely can create unrealistic expectations for people seeking housing in our community. The agency’s goal is to minimize the impact on those in need of housing by reopening the City HOME Transitional Housing waitlist as soon as we are able to cut the wait time for housing down to 24 months,” said LDCHA Chief Executive Officer Shannon Oury in the release.

Other LDCHA wait lists, including those for public housing and Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers, are not closed. All other wait lists remain open and are currently accepting applications.