Riverside County Gets Federal Grant For Preventing Homelessness

RIVERSIDE – Riverside County residents whose finances are strained, leaving them without the means to pay rent or mortgage payments, may qualify for assistance under a federal program intended to prevent homelessness, county officials announced.

The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development has allocated $4.2 million to Riverside County as part of HUD’s “Homeless Prevention & Rapid Re-housing Program,” which provides short- and medium-term financial assistance to people on the brink of homelessness, or those already dispossessed.

“This program is absolutely essential to help those county residents who are struggling after losing their homes,” said Tom Freeman, spokesman for the Riverside County Economic Development Agency, which is administering the housing program.

A 2007 survey found that 4,500 county residents are living on the streets or in homeless shelters on any given day. Nearly a third of dispossessed residents are children, according to the survey.

According to the housing program guidelines, assistance can be offered to residents forced onto the street because of financial hardship, or residents in imminent danger of losing their home or apartment due to financial stress.

Qualified applicants cannot earn more than 50 percent of the county’s median income, or roughly $29,000 a year.

According to Freeman, taxpayer-funded assistance might include three to 12 months of rental payments, as well as taking care of a security deposit, utility bills, moving expenses and hotel vouchers.

Payments are made directly to landlords and companies — not the housing program beneficiaries, said Freeman.

He said the Homeless Prevention & Rapid Re-housing Program funds were generated by the federal American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, which earmarked more than $787 billion for economic stimulus.

More information about the housing program is available at www.hudhre.info, or by calling (866) 414-0870.