The City of New Rochelle is opening up applications for the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Section 8 vouchers for the first time in four years.

People can begin to apply on Monday, June 10 beginning at 9 a.m. for a spot on the waitlist.

According to city officials, New Rochelle currently has 760 individuals and families housed using Section 8 vouchers.

Veteran Francis Fields is one of them after securing his spot in 2016.

"It was life-changing," he said. "It kept me off the streets, kept me from doing things I wouldn't do, it was good."

New Rochelle administers the program locally and determines when the list opens based on guidelines from HUD.

"Affordable housing is a crisis in the state, maybe in the nation even, but certainly here for us in Westchester and so I think it's a reflection of that and it's important for people to have safe, affordable housing, and this gives them opportunities for that," New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert said.

The Housing Choice Vouchers are one of the federal government's biggest programs to assist low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities afford safe housing. Eligibility is based on gross annual income and family size.

By law, local municipalities must provide 75% of their vouchers to applicants whose incomes do not exceed 30% of the area median income. In New Rochelle, salary requirements range from $30,850 for a single person at 30% of the area median income up to $96,900 for a family of eight at 50% of the area median income.

A local preference is given to New Rochelle residents and veterans.

This new application window follows New York City opening its Section 8 Housing application earlier this week for the first time in 15 years. The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) received more than 150,000 applications in 12 hours.

New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert recognizes the expected demand in New Rochelle is likely to outweigh the number of available units. She said the city is working to close that gap through additional affordable housing initiatives including the downtown development program which requires 10% of all new buildings to be set aside for affordable housing.

"We are definitely forward thinking and being very aggressive in what we offer for affordable housing," she said.

She added the city has added 600 new affordable housing units over the last few years with hundreds more on the way. She said the number of affordable housing units being set aside from the downtown development initiative is closer to 20%.

According to city officials, other cities including some neighboring municipalities in Westchester, only have one-day application windows and have not opened their waiting lists for at least the past five years.

New Rochelle's applications will be available through Monday, June 17 until 4 p.m. Applications must be submitted online.