David Hensley of the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority helps people applying for Section 8 vouchers Tuesday. Applications will be taken again today at the Voice of the Blue Ridge building on Melrose Avenue.

JEANNA DUERSCHERL / The Roanoke Times

Hundreds of people line up Tuesday outside the Voice of the Blue Ridge building to apply for Section 8 housing vouchers through the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Tamara Brown waited two years to get on a list that would line her up for a Section 8 housing voucher.

Her goal of getting out of Roanoke's homeless shelters and into an apartment or house could still be months -- if not a year or more -- away, but Tuesday she came a step closer.

Brown, 42, arrived about 9 a.m., joining about 600 others already lined up outside the Voice of the Blue Ridge building in the 3400 block of Melrose Avenue Northwest on Tuesday morning to apply for Section 8 vouchers from the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

By noon, more than 900 applications had been accepted.

"This crowd was larger, and I suspect that's related to the economy," said Glenda Edwards, executive director of the housing authority.

"It concerns me to know that that many people need rental assistance."

Section 8 vouchers allow residents to pay a portion of their rent at a qualifying property based on their income. The housing authority pays the rest.

Tuesday was the first time in three years that the housing authority has accepted applications to get on the waiting list for the vouchers.

The housing authority can issue a voucher only when another person leaves the program, Edwards said. There may have been fewer people leaving the program in the past year and a half because of the economy, but more people seeking aid.

When the application period was last open in 2007, there were nearly 1,800 applicants. Of those still waiting from 2007, Edwards estimates they will receive aid within six months.

Preference is given to those who are homeless, disabled or have been displaced because of a natural disaster, domestic violence and other reasons, Edwards said.

Some people looking for aid began lining up with pillows and blankets at midnight Tuesday.

They smoked cigarettes and about 4 a.m., began singing gospel songs, said Sophia Duff, 19, of Roanoke, who arrived at 3:30 a.m.

By 9 a.m., the line of people had grown to 600 and wound around the parking lot. A fight between two women drew several police officers -- one with a pepper ball gun -- who monitored the otherwise calm crowd for hours.

The applicants stood in the morning heat as the line quickly moved through the parking lot. Inside the building, yellow applications were filled out and handed to workers who checked to make sure everything was complete.

Brown, who collects disability for a mental illness, said she was hopeful that she would receive a voucher soon and have enough money saved to pay for her share of the rent.

"This is my chance to have a house," she said. "I've been bouncing around from shelter to shelter."

Edwards encouraged people who are in immediate need of housing to consider applying for public housing.

The housing authority will continue to take applications today from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Voice of the Blue Ridge building.