Ft. Lauderdale, Fla:  Thousands of people seeking government subsidized housing packed the street Saturday morning in front of the Housing Authority building, until police shut down the line because the crowd became unmanageable.

Officials estimated that 4500 people were waiting in line at 8:00am when the Fort lauderdal Housing Authority began distributing the 3000 available applications for Section-8 housing, a Federally funded program the provides rental subsidies to landlords to help low-income people find affordable housing.  The application process was shut down earlier than expected because of the overwhelming turnout.

Advertising had been limited to fliers and word of mouth in hopes that fewer residents would show up.  2800 applications had been passed out by 9:15am when police decided to shut down the operation, fearing the crowd would storm past the barricades to get the remaining few applications.

What has the Obama Stimulus Package allocated to relieve the low-income housing shortage situation? 

Please comment.

Contributing editor can be reached at atran@sunsentinel.com Sunday 2-22-2009 article found in the Local section.