Housing is expensive. For those with limited income — those who are elderly or disabled — housing options shrink quickly. That’s where housing authorities step in to fill the gaps for those in need.

“This is not just bricks and mortar. This is people’s homes,” Washington Housing Authority Executive Director Marc Recko said, standing outside of East Haven Apartments on East Third Street in Washington.

Forty residents make their homes in the one-bedroom apartments of WHA’s East Haven building. They are elderly. They are disabled. Some moved there from the homes of relatives; others came from shelters. At East Haven, they’ve not only found homes they can afford, they’ve also found a community where lunch is served daily and residents are encouraged to participate in exercise classes or simply take advantage of the common living area of the first floor lobby.

“I like the rent,” said Helen Gilliam, with a smile.

When Gilliam’s brother died, she didn’t need the amount of space, nor could she afford, the apartment the two shared. Now she lives on the first floor of East Haven, in a tidy one-bedroom with sliding glass doors that let in plenty of light. She loves to cook and spends most of her time in the kitchen that’s tucked into the corner of her spacious living room. New cherry cabinets set the room-within-a-room apart from the living area.

“It’s comfortable to me. Two rooms is enough for me. It’s convenient for me too; it’s convenient. And it’s quiet,” Gilliam said.

Recko said this is the new face of public housing: family- and community-oriented, where afterschool programs take place in the family units in neighborhoods like Westbrook and Oak Crest and Bible studies and socials take place at East Haven.

“It’s important (to have) because you focus on residents who you know really need housing like this,” said Kimberly Stanley, housing manager for the East Haven Apartments. “They’re able to come in here and be comfortable.”

Qualification for housing is based on income and rent comes on a sliding scale — tenants pay 30 percent of their income for rent and utilities. Washington Housing Authority survives on funding from HUD and USDA Rural Development programs. There is no city, county or state funding and like many agencies that rely on government funding, WHA has felt the extreme crunch of recent years. Subsidy amounts for housing have decreased dramatically, Recko said. He said WHA has experienced an approximate 20-percent reduction in funding, with no end in sight. They’ve dealt with it through attrition — now down seven employees — and craft.

“We have a great staff that’s looked to economize and do more with less,” Recko said. “But we’re looking at a worse subsidy level this year, and it’s really going to be a tough year.”

Shrinking subsidies, however, don’t match up with more people in need of affordable housing. With 350 to 400 families on WHA’s waiting list at any given time—which works out to a two- to three-year waiting period, it’s a challenge to make sure people get the housing they need before they run out of options.

But Recko and WHA have made sure to do what they can in the face of adversity: knowing WHA’s funding would be hit hard by sequestration in 2013, the authority applied for and received a $6 million combination loan and energy reduction program. With it, they were able to improve infrastructure and cut down on maintenance costs. The result is, they’ve maintained quality while spending less, Recko said.

In a Tier 1 county like Beaufort County, a basic need is affordable housing.

“The real answer to homelessness is housing,” Recko said. “That is what we do, is try to best that need. We’ve made a great dent in it but we still have a long way to go.”