SAL Community Services strongly encourages people and families who face homelessness or eviction to seek emergency rental assistance.
According to a news release, qualifying residents of Henry, Mercer, or Rock Island Counties may apply for back rent and advance rent through December 31, 2022.
How to Qualify for Illinois Emergency Rental Assistance?
The director of SAL’s Open Door Crisis Assistance program, Loredia Nunn-Dixon, stated that stability is our main priority.
When your living situation is secure, you may continue to pay attention to everything else, including your work, studies, and health. Additionally, landlords won’t lose their renters if we can retain them where they are. For all of us, this program is beneficial.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many individuals lost their jobs, the need for rental aid became clear at SAL very early on. Immigrants and refugees, a group disproportionately affected by the pandemic’s economic repercussions, were the focus of the organization’s earlier rental assistance program.
Anyone in the community is eligible for the available funds, which total around $800,000 and is provided by the Illinois Department of Human Services. Residents must have qualified for unemployment benefits, lost household income faced increased expenses, or endured other financial problems as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19 to get aid.
Additionally, they must be able to show that they are at risk of losing their homes or being evicted due to their inability to pay rent. In addition, priority will be given to households with incomes at or below 50% of the regional median, which must be at or below 80% of their household’s income.
Applicants are required to submit a lease, proof of income, and other paperwork. No documentation of immigrant status is required. Nunn-Dixon has experienced a spike in demand for rental assistance since receiving the most recent batch of money this summer.
The SAL team has performed outreach at housing complexes, partnered with regional housing authorities to recommend tenants who may be at risk, and hired a staff member to assist in handling requests. Funding is still available as of right now, but applications must be submitted before the year is through.
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Orange County Emergency Rental Assistance Program
Under the American Rescue Plan, a larger spectrum of renters may be eligible to receive these government payments, according to Orange County. Renters previously had to demonstrate that COVID-19 was the cause of their financial difficulty.
However, under ERAP2, they might be eligible if the hardship merely happened during the pandemic. If your rent increased significantly, for instance, you might be able to seek assistance. A county presentation from June indicated that the program might pay arrears and the amount of the increase for the following three months.
The county program does not cover residents of the city of Orlando, and there are financial restrictions that must be met. For example, a household of four may qualify if it earned less than $66,320.
Officially, the previous program, known as ERAP1, ends on September 30, although Orange County stopped accepting new applications last month. The initiative gave the county more than $29 million in rental assistance.
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