"It's draining, it is traumatizing, it's a shame," said Lashonne Smith, who lives in Brooklyn. Smith has received a voucher to help pay a portion of her rent since 2022.
The mother of two said she was shocked when she received the notice.
"I got an email and I saw the NYCHA logo, I nearly fell to the floor," said Smith. "I felt like a bomb hit me."
It was an email from NYCHA, which administers the federal funds locally, saying the funding "will run out by late 2026 and NYCHA will no longer be able to provide EHV subsidy payments for your apartment."
Congress created the vouchers through the American rescue plan act of 2021. The federal funding was intended for housing the country's most vulnerable, but the money was cut off four years earlier than expected.
"Everybody on a voucher is not getting their voucher for free," said Smith. "My rent, I spend more than NYCHA spends for me."
She's one of more than 5,200 people in the New York City area alone who will be losing their vouchers. 70,000 people across the country are affected.
The notice Smith received from NYCHA said it's "working to find alternative subsidized housing options."
It also states voucher holders must fill out an application for NYCHA's public housing program, but there's no guarantee they'll find a place for them to live.
"My application has been in with NYCHA since 2017, since domestic violence, since abuse, I'm labeled under domestic violence," explained Smith. Adding, "I've been on the waitlist!"
Being on the waitlist is the reason she needed the voucher in the first place. It helps her pay rent in the meantime. Currently, the waitlist has more than 150,000 other people on it.
"We are in the hands of a bunch of people who don't care because if they cared, they would not handle the people this way," said Smith.
In a statement to 7 On Your Side Investigates, NYCHA said, "Last year the federal government announced that it would be ending the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) Program early, with funding running out by the end of 2026. In order to receive an offer of an alternative subsidized housing option from NYCHA, EHV participants must complete a public housing application. NYCHA encourages residents to submit their application by May 1 and will be accepting applications on a rolling basis through the summer. NYCHA will begin offering alternative options to its EHV participants on a rolling basis beginning in the spring."
In a follow-up email, NYCHA asked future tenants on the waitlist to "...be on the look for future correspondence." And that they'll "...reach out by mail and email to let you know the next steps."
Not a comfort to families wondering where they'll be, one year from now.
"This is just going to make it worse for us if we don't have somewhere to live," said Smith.
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