PROVIDENCE – Nearly 3,000 families have applied for low-income rental assistance offered by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s administration in the past month and a half.
The new program is intended to provide relief related to the COVID-19 pandemic and is financed through federal impact funds.
The initial funds, of $1.5 million, provided enough money for about 500 families to receive the help, which consists of grants of up to $3,000 per family, said Jonathan Womer, director of the R.I. Office of Management and Budget, on Tuesday.
The information was relayed to the Joint Legislative COVID-19 Emergency Spending Task Force.
Eligibility for the state program is set to household income, restricted to those who earn at or below 50% of area median income. And families also had to be experiencing at least one additional risk factor for housing instability, specifically documentation that they were facing eviction and were already behind on their rent.
The $1.5 million initially announced by Raimondo has since been supplemented with a $5 million pledge, for a total of $6.5 million in funds. The source is federal funding to Rhode Island for COVID-19 impacts. Another 500 eligible households will receive grants for rental assistance through the current applicant pool, according to the administration.
A future application round will be opened this fall with another 1,100 families being selected.
The program sends the funds directly to the landlord, not the tenant.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at Macdonald@PBN.com.
