DES MOINES, Iowa — A COVID-era program designed to help prevent renters from becoming homeless in Polk County has stopped taking new applications.
The Emergency Rental Assistance Program stopped taking them Feb. 8.
The program was seeing between 80 to 100 people a day apply for the assistance when Impact Community Action Partnership had to pause it.
"This is actually the third time we have fully expended funds," the organization's CEO, Anne Bacon, said.
ERAP helps renters who have past due payments because of COVID-related issues.
"So virtually every single family that we've assisted is at risk for eviction and to date, we've helped just over seven thousand families," Bacon said.
The program started in Polk County a year ago, but the need is still high.
With so many people regularly applying for the program each day and there now being a pause, Bacon said this could put some people who really needed the help in a hard place, like evictions.
Alex Kornya, the litigation director and general counsel of Iowa Legal Aid, said there are 267 eviction cases set to be heard in Polk County in a few weeks.
However, Bacon is hopeful the U.S. Treasury will provide more funding for the program soon.
"The state has sent in the paperwork to Treasury, we know Polk County has requested funding from Treasury and my understanding is that all occurred sometime in December and we are just waiting now for that process."
She also noted with the applications closed, there are still options for people in need to get help: applying to Polk County's General Assistance program or to Iowa Finance Authority's rent assistance.
People in the community can help others who are in need of rent assistance by sending money to ICAP. That can be done here or by reaching out to Terri Speirs directly at 515-348-4247 or tspeirs@impactcap.org.
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