"It's a whole lot of stress" "I applied the second day the program opened," said Durham renter Kymberlee Devine. HOPE (Housing Opportunity to Prevent Evictions) is a statewide rental assistance program funded by the federal government and opened to applicants in October. The program closed to new applicants just weeks after launching after receiving more than 42,000 applications. Devine got her application in time and was approved for both utility and rental assistance right away. While the utility assistance was paid, the promised rental assistance was not. Her rent continued to be unpaid, her landlord growing impatient for the promised funds.