United Way Rental Assistance Program Provides Much-Needed Relief for Struggling Residents
An additional $1.9 million is available starting this month, with local funding from the federal CARES Act and Community Development Block Grants
The United Way of Santa Barbara County, with an office at 320 E. Gutierrez St. in Santa Barbara, has helped distribute COVID-19 rental assistance grants to eligible individuals and families living in unincorporated areas. (Brooke Holland / Noozhawk photo) By Brooke Holland, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @BT Holland
January 1, 2021
| 10:22 p.m.
Santa Maria native Marie Sherwood was set to move to Arizona on April 1, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed her plans.
Housing and Development Newsletter
As an “essential service,” housing authorities have had to adapt quickly amid the COVID-19 outbreak to keep providing necessary and critical services to residents. Our goal was and is to maintain the same level of service as before the contagion.
We are proud of that fact not one individual or family in our programs lost their housing due to any economic hardships because of the pandemic. The Housing Authority represents 2,784 households on the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program and 1,370 households in our own properties.
This also means that those landlords who participate in the Section 8 Voucher Program were also protected in terms of the full rent they receive. The program alone brings $36 million annually into our community.