Edgerton Outreach is receiving Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program funds. This program is funded through ARRA Funds, commonly referred to as stimulus funds. We receive many requests for rent assistance each week and very often people are confused because they may not qualify for assistance when someone else that they know did qualify. The purpose of these funds is to prevent homelessness and/or to move someone into housing that is homeless. ECO must document that a person is homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. This means that a person must actually be living in a motel/hotel, staying in a place not meant for habitation, or moving out of a transitional living program. To be at imminent risk of becoming homeless, a person needs to have been issued a notice to move out of their apartment (an eviction notice). The person needing assistance, often with the help of ECO, must identify and attempt to access all other resources available to the applicant prior to being enrolled in the HPRP Program. The rental unit of the applicant must pass a habitability inspection to ensure that the unit is safe and decent. All rental units must either fit in Hud’s Fair Market Rental Value or must be proven to be Rent Reasonable. Edgerton Outreach is able to assist households residing in Edgerton, Milton, and Evansville.
As one can see, many criteria must be met prior to an applicant receiving assistance through this program. This is the only funding source that ECO has at the current time through which ECO is able to provide a household more than one month’s rent assistance. For more information on this program, contact ECO’s Housing Case Manager, Emily Pope.