INDIANAPOLIS — The City of Indianapolis will re-open its rental assistance portal "in the next few weeks," according to a spokesperson in the Mayor's Office, to help those struggling to make payments due to COVID-19.
In 2020, the city provided nearly $34 million in rental assistance to 16,000 households that qualified.
This year, another $29 million will come from federal funding approved by Congress in December, along with an additional $6 million from the city’s general fund.
"It is the lifeblood, frankly, for both renters and landlords," Mayor Joe Hogsett told 13News. "This is not a one-sided program that is designed simply to protect people who need shelter to maintain their shelter. It also has been important to the landlords who otherwise would go - in some cases - months without the rent that their businesses require."
Housing advocates say those who've taken a financial hit from COVID-19 often seem to be hourly employees who rent.
"Those are the people in rental homes and making those decisions about whether to put food on the table to have money for their kids to go to school or to pay rent to have a home over their head," said Brandon Beeler, Director of the Housing Law Center for Indiana Legal Services, a nonprofit group that provides legal help for low-income Hoosiers.
Beeler said he takes, on average, four to six calls every day from Marion County renters struggling to make their monthly payment directly because of a COVID-19-related challenge.
Late last year, the Aspen Institute estimated 30 to 40 million people are at risk of eviction because of the economic fallout from COVID-19.
Click here to learn whether you qualify.