Section 8 Voucher Mania in Dallas

The head of Dallas County Health and Human Services defended the agency’s handling of a Thursday morning event at which hundreds of people broke ranks from an estimated 5,000-person crowd and stampeded toward a stadium to obtain applications for hard-to-get housing vouchers.

Officials said some people got bumps and bruises when they fell or got stepped on, but no one was taken to the hospital.

Zachary Thompson, director of the agency, told WFAA-TV that there’s “no perfect way” to distribute the forms. This was the first time in years that Dallas County accepted applications for the federally funded Section 8 vouchers which pay a portion of the rent based on income.

“Of course, you’re going to have people break the lines, you’re going to have people running. That’s to be expected,” Thompson said, adding that officials handled the situation well.

Video on Dallas television stations shows hundreds of people suddenly sprinting toward the Jesse Owens Memorial Complex. Some had camped out since Wednesday night.

“I started running and I slipped and fell,” applicant Jordan Spivey told WFAA.

Spivey suffered cuts and scrapes as she was caught up in the crowd, but said she feels lucky that she wasn’t trampled.

Courtesy of Bossip.com