History

In 1937, the Indiana General Assembly passed the Indiana Housing Authority Act wherein local governing bodies in each city, town, and county in the state of Indiana were authorized to create, and adopt by resolution, public bodies corporation to be known as housing authorities. The purpose of these housing authorities was to undertake slum clearance and to construct safe, decent, and sanitary dwelling accommodations for low-income citizens.

The Housing Authority of the City of Gary, Indiana (hereinafter referred to as the Gary Housing Authority) was brought into existence by the adoption of a resolution of the City of Gary Common Council on June 20, 1938 and was duly incorporated on July 8th, 1938.

The Section 8 Housing Assistance Program was introduced into the Gary Housing Authority in 1974. This program allowed families to rent housing on the private market while having their rent subsidized. The Gary Housing Authority functions as the administrator for the program which is comprised of several programs: Section 8 Existing, Moderate Rehabilitation, Substantial Rehabilitation, and the Section 8 Voucher Program. The Section 8 Program has 2,442 housing units under lease throughout the city.