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Date: 2/10/2021
EASTHAMPTON – Mayor Nicole LaChapelle announced on Feb. 3 the opening of the city’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program.
Funded through the Community Preservation Act and administered by Community Action Pioneer Valley, the goal of the initiative is to provide short-term relief to Easthampton renters facing hardships as a result of the coronavirus pandemic through grants of up to $3,000 to eligible households.
During the City Council’s Feb. 3 meeting, LaChapelle called the program a “fabulous use of CPA money,” adding, “During the pandemic, this program is a great bridge. We are also catching up with folks who have fallen through other programs.”
Councilor Daniel Rist, chair of the CPA Committee, and LaChapelle praised the launch of the program after what was a lengthy process to get it going.
“As a chairman of the CPA, this has taken a while – since last spring – to get this into activity. A lot of it had to do with finding a local agency that would administer it,” Rist said.
LaChapelle explained that given the amount of money required for the program, the city was bound by procurement laws and had to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an administrator. The first RFP yielded no viable applicants because the agencies that could administer the program were at capacity with other programs. The second RFP was successful in identifying and securing Community Action Pioneer Valley.
Assistant Planner Jamie Webb was also credited with performing a significant amount of crucial work in the formulation of the program.
“By providing assistance to households who are already behind in their rent, we are able to protect these members of our community from the devastating impacts of being evicted in winter in the middle of a pandemic,” Webb said in a press release from the city. “When community members are evicted from their homes, it doesn’t just hurt that household, it hurts the entire community.”
Emergency Rental Assistance Program grants can be used for back rent, current rent or future rental expenses and will be distributed to those who are eligible on a first-come, first-served basis. Income limits for eligibility, LaChapelle explained, equal 100 percent of the area median income. Applicants must also have experienced a negative economic impact due to COVID-19, and be at least one month behind in their rent.
“I think the breadth of the income limit is meaningful,” she said. “I also find this to be dark because folks who never expected to find themselves in this place and folks that have needed relief for a while are now in the same bucket of funds.”
For a household of one, the income limit is $59,800; for a two-person household, the limit is $64,800; for three people, $76,900; four people, $85,400; five people, $92,300; six people, $99,100; seven people, $105,900; and eight people, $112,800.
Those interested in taking advantage of the program are encouraged to call Community Action Pioneer Valley at 475-1570. The office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a lunch break from 12 to 1 p.m. LaChapelle instructed residents to leave a message if their call is not answered and a representative would call them back. She also advised landlords to learn more about the program and work with tenants.
To encourage participation, LaChapelle said there would be a marketing campaign in both English and Spanish.
When asked if there was an online application, City Planner Jeffrey Bagg told the City Council there was not.
“The framework for it is that it is not really an online application for people. They are really going to be encouraged to call Community Action. They’re having the resources to talk to people and let them know if they are going to qualify or not, so it’s not really an online application at this point,” he explained.
The city appropriated $300,000 in CPA funds for the program including a first phase of $124,000 with $100,000 going to grants and $24,000 going to Community Action Pioneer Valley for administration. The remaining $176,000 will be made available once the first round of funding is exhausted. The second round would include an estimated $140,000 in grants and $36,000 in administration.
LaChapelle urged the City Council and the CPA Committee to monitor the program and consider additional funding as needed, noting federal assistance for renters may not be available again for some time.
“This is a fund that doesn’t have to be one-time. It can be refunded. I believe that it will need to be refunded,” she said. “Even when we’re at herd immunity or whenever we say COVID is behind us, the effects and the ripples on our families will be pretty tremendous. It’s tremendous now. It’s not everybody gets a vaccine and we’re out of the economic burden.”