Pacific County opens rental assistance

Pacific County Health and Human Services will begin accepting applications from individuals for rental assistance on Monday in a project supported by a grant awarded by US Department of the Treasury.

Grant funds are administered by the Local Government Coronavirus Relief Fund through the Washington State Department of Commerce. This funding source ends December 31 or once funds are spent, whichever occurs first.

The Eviction Rent Assistance Program (ERAP) Grant is intended to prevent evictions by paying past due, current, and future rent, and targeting limited resources to those with the greatest needs while working to distribute funds. Individuals may apply for up to three months of rent payments in any combination of rental arrears, current rent, or future rent through December 2020.

There isn’t enough funding to assist all of the households who may be eligible for rent assistance under this program. In order to be eligible, households must meet two initial criteria: 1) Current Income (over last 60 days) at or below 50% of Area Median Income, and 2) At least one month of rent not paid or partially unpaid since March 1.

Additionally, the household must also meet at least one of the following additional screening criteria (any member of the household can meet the criteria, it doesn’t have to be the head of household): 1) Rent burdened: 50% or more of current monthly income is needed to pay rent, 2) Previously homeless within last five years. This includes experiences of couch surfing/double up, 3) Eviction history within last seven years, 4) Housing disrupted due to household member race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, or religion, 5) At risk of severe illness as per CDC (62 or older, underlying condition), 6) Disability of any household member. This includes a physical, developmental, mental, or emotional impairment, including impairment caused by alcohol or drug abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, or brain injury. A person with HIV/AIDS is considered disabled.

Adults 24 or younger, may also qualify for assistance if they are pregnant or parenting, or have been involved in foster care, mental health, drug or alcohol treatment, court systems, or if they were adopted. United States citizenship is not an eligibility requirement of this program.

Application materials can be found at http://www.pacificcountycovid19.com under the Resources Page or acquired by emailing rentassistance@co.pacific.wa.us.

Application forms can be sent to rentassistance@co.pacific.wa.us, by fax to 360-642-9342, or via mail to Pacific County Health Department, Attn: Rent Assistance, 7013 Sandridge Rd, Long Beach, WA 98631. Anyone needing assistance filling out forms should contact 360-214-9996 or email rentassistance@co.pacific.wa.us.