GREENSBORO, N.C. — With unemployment and remote learning and there are a lot of stresses on families out there. Haley Pfeiffer-Haynes of the NC Recovery & Resiliency Office and Tyra Clymer of Greensboro Urban Ministries will spend time during 2WTK answering questions about resources that are available.
HOPE PROGRAM & EVICTION ASSISTANCE
Thanks to an extended moratorium, landlords can't evict renters until the end of January 2021, but while that extension buys tenants more time, thousands are still waiting for the state to deliver rental assistance two months after they first applied for help.
North Carolina created the Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions (HOPE) Program in October as part of an effort to help those financially struggling pay their rent and utilities.
While there have been changes made to the program to get more landlords on board, there are still folks waiting for their money to pay utilities or rent. The HOPE Program has given folks letters to give to companies and landlords.
“We've had 92% of landlords accept the funds, so we're not seeing a large number reject the funds, however, we are looking at adjusting some things to make the program more attractive because we do want to assist everyone,” said Haley Pfeiffer-Haynes of the NC Recovery & Resiliency Office.
Again, there are no specifics, but Pfeiffer-Haynes said they are working on a re-design now and will approach landlords again with the new program.
Right now, landlords must agree to several things including not raising the rent and not evicting the tenant for the remainder of their lease. The length of that time is what Pfeiffer-Haynes said some landlords seemed to have an issue with.
The HOPE program has awarded approximately $29 million, with $14.5 million paid out to assist approximately 4,000 households
The average amount of awards is $3662.
To get folks their money faster, they're asking for your landlord's email addresses. The HOPE Program doesn’t want to mail the payments, but email them to the landlord.
For those folks who are having the back-and-forth with their utility company, here is some advice. “We're pursuing agreements with utilities and sharing databases so we can speed up the payment of these past-due utilities rather than having to case manage each case. When someone is in danger of being disconnected we want them to get in touch with their HOPE program manager so that we can provide them a pledge letter, this is something utility companies are used to seeing and this could help keep from disconnection and would also help for reconnection,” said Pfeiffer-Haynes.
NEED HELP?
Legal Aid of NC is able to help you navigate the document and dealing with your landlord.
And if you need rent or utility assistance, NC 211 can help by referring you to agencies that help with both food and other resources.
Additional Local Rent and Utility Assistance Programs
Below are local government programs that provide rent and utility assistance. The NC 211 Resource database may have a local program that can help you. You could also check with local churches or community organizations to see if they have assistance available.
- Wake County residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you at housewake.org/.
- Mecklenburg County residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you at www.rampclt.com.
- Greensboro residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you at Greensboro Housing Coalition.
- Wilmington residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you at Good Shepherd Wilmington Eviction Prevention Project.
- Asheville residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you at www.pisgahlegal.org and www.homewardboundwnc.org.
- Chapel Hill residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you at orangecountync.gov/HousingAssistance.
- High Point residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you by calling (336)883-3111.
- Hickory residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you at ccmhickory.org/.
- Cabarrus County residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you at concordnc.gov/Departments/Housing.
- Burlington residents: find out about assistance that may be available to you by calling (336)222-5070