People of Housing Security:
Daniel Harmon

For those of you who were around when Player’s Pub and Max’s Place were still in business, providing a venue for local musicians, you might have seen Daniel Harmon on stage playing Beatles tunes. More on that later.

Daniel is also known for his long tenure at the Bloomington Housing Authority, where he’s worked for over 15 years. He started on the cleaning staff and worked his way to leadership as Housing Choice Voucher Program Manager, a role he’s held since 2012.

As program manager, Daniel oversees an annual budget of about $14 million and a staff of nine who serve the 1,700 or so households who have housing vouchers, known as Section 8. The voucher program helps make housing accessible to about 3,500 people in Bloomington. “We have such a huge impact on so many different families,” Daniel said.

A lot of his work is administrative. “Some days I’m living in Excel workbooks, crunching numbers,” he said. “Other days I may be working with landlords. Other days it’s tenant-focused.” And every day he works closely with his staff, which includes case managers, an intake coordinator, a housing inspector, front office staff and family self-sufficiency specialists. “I love the team we have here. None of this is possible without them.”

His goal is to make the program as efficient as possible in a way that helps the families he serves. Before he took this job, for example, families who wanted to get on the wait list for a housing voucher were required to come to the office and get a paper form. Because getting on the list was time sensitive and on a first-come, first-served basis, “families would be camping out the night before,” he recalled.

Sometimes the line would extend for blocks, which was especially rough in bad weather. So one of the first things he changed when he moved into this role was to put the application process online. Now BHA also uses a preference-point system to give priority for certain situations, such as being a resident of Monroe County or having a disability. “We’re always trying to evaluate how we do things and how to make it better,” Daniel said.

One big challenge is the misconceptions some landlords hold. “We’re always fighting the stigma that Section 8 tenants are bad tenants,” Daniel said. “It’s a hard one to shake, it really is.”

That challenge is made even more difficult because there are fewer mom-and-pop landlords in Bloomington. Those smaller businesses are being bought by owners who use large property management companies. Smaller landlords were often a lot more open to understanding someone’s particular circumstance “or maybe giving somebody a chance,” Daniel said. Larger companies tend to rely on screening criteria alone. “There’s a lot less flexibility,” he noted.

Currently, BHA’s voucher program has about a 64% success rate – meaning that 36% of voucher holders can’t find a landlord to accept their voucher. That rate has improved since BHA raised the amount of rent that vouchers can cover, but more is needed. Initiatives like BHA’s landlord risk mitigation fund are “a huge step in the right direction to combat that trend,” Daniel said. (Heading Home financially supports the landlord risk mitigation program so that BHA can work with Monroe County landlords outside the city of Bloomington.)

Housing Affordability “is a complex issue. One agency can’t fix it. It’s going to take a lot of people to find a solution. There just really are not enough units.”

The housing market is tough in Bloomington, Daniel noted, due in part to the student population and lack of affordable housing options. Though many new apartment developments are popping up in town, most aren’t truly affordable or suitable for families. “I know it’s a complex issue,” he said. “One agency can’t fix it. It’s going to take a lot of people to find a solution. There just really are not enough units.”

Now back to the music. For about a decade, Daniel was part of an acoustic Beatles cover band called The Groundsmen. As The Groundsmen, Daniel and Ron Stewart – a former BHA maintenance tech – played at former venues like Max’s Place on the square and Player’s Pub on South Walnut. (You can watch a video of one of their performances here.)

Daniel still enjoys playing guitar and keyboard, and now his son Maxwell is developing an interest in drums. Does he see another band in his future? “It’s a matter of finding the right people to play with,” he said. (Ron Stewart has moved out of state.)

In addition to his passion for music, Daniel loves spending time with his family. He met his wife Katie while working at BHA – she was a housing specialist there. In addition to their cat, Mr. Wiggins, they have two kids at home: Maxwell, 10, and six-year-old Eleanor. His oldest daughter Kaela attends Ohio University in Athens.

Note: Heading Home’s Mary Morgan is on the Bloomington Housing Authority board. About the People of Housing Security: This series highlights the work of those committed to improving the lives of residents in South Central Indiana. Find all the articles in this series here.