The past year has hit everyone hard, making it hard for some households to pay their rent and utilities. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) was created to help qualified individuals pay their bills.
GROW developed The Emergency Rental Assistance Program website as a tool to help people who are behind on rent find their local ERAP program and apply for relief.
Learn more about how this tool connects renters with much-needed assistance.
What is the Emergency Rental Assistance Program?
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment in the United States has hit levels not seen since the Great Depression and is more than double what the country experienced since the Great Recession. This widespread loss of income has created housing insecurities across the country. As of the beginning of this year, 18% of American renters were behind on payments. Roughly 10 million people are struggling to pay their rent.
The Emergency Rental Assistance Program was created as part of The American Rescue Plan, which allocated over $20 billion dollars to assist qualifying households unable to pay their rent and utilities due to the pandemic.
The United States Treasury has allocated a minimum of $152 million of the program’s funding to each state and the District of Columbia, which will be distributed to states, territories, and local governments to assist households unable to pay rent and utilities due to the COVID-19 crisis.
How Does EmergencyRentalAssistanceProgram.com Help?
GROW created emergencyrentalassistanceprogram.com to provide a centralized database for ERAP, making it easier for renters to find programs in their area in order to access available resources. Since ERAP funds are distributed by a wide variety of state and local entities, we wanted to pull all of the information together into one easily accessible site.
The site helps qualifying individuals who are behind on their rent:
- determine ERAP eligibility
- find their appropriate local program
- apply for funding
Who Benefits from EmergencyRentalAssistanceProgram.com?
The ERAP website offers benefits for a number of people, including:
- Renters who are behind on rent or utilities as a result of COVID-19
- Landlords and utility companies who are owed back rent and past due bills
- ERAP program administrators who want to add program details to the database
By simply entering their zip code, eligible renters across the United States can get connected to a local program that can provide them with much-needed financial relief. Find your local Emergency Rental Assistance Program, learn more about eligibility requirements, and start your application today at emergencyrentalassistanceprograms.com. Get started here.
