After two years on the Housing Choice Voucher waiting list, Britt and her children finally had a spacious two-bedroom apartment at QLS Gardens. With the voucher, she paid just under $600 a month. She bought a used Hyundai, furnished the apartment, and hosted gatherings, sometimes letting unhoused friends stay over. When her cousin Steve, recently released from prison, asked to stay, she agreed.

After a year, management refused to renew her lease because a man with a criminal background had been seen at her unit. Britt assumed that she could easily find another apartment with her voucher, but discovered that most listings explicitly refused vouchers. One landlord explained that accepting vouchers no longer made financial sense in Atlanta’s hot market.

The narrative provides historical context: Atlanta’s public housing was demolished in the 1990s and replaced with a voucher-based system. However, as rents soared, landlords increasingly refused vouchers. On her 24th birthday, Britt moved out. An AHA caseworker informed her that she had 60 days to find housing or lose her voucher. At her airport job, she cut back her hours and eventually quit to search for housing full-time, and she even received an extension, but her voucher expired.