With COVID relief money set to end, where should Charlotte renters in need go?

For those already struggling to find stable housing prior to March 2020, the pandemic made matters worse.

Housing instability affected more people as COVID-19 pushed people out of jobs and interest rates and home values fluctuated drastically, Charlotte’s housing director Shawn Heath said. Federal and state eviction moratoriums kept roofs over renters’ heads, but they didn’t last forever.

The U.S. Supreme Court ended the pandemic-related federal moratorium in August 2021.

Landlords, meanwhile, kept track of rent not paid during the moratorium because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn’t require it to be forgiven, leaving many to rely on rental assistance or face eviction. Rents in Charlotte continued to rise.

The city allocated more than a third of its $360 million in federal stimulus money toward housing initiatives to combat the problem. But the challenge of getting tens of thousands of Charlotte residents into homes they can afford remains, and there’s a shrinking amount of federal relief money and time to spend it.

“I would say that a lot of progress has been made over the last five years,” Heath, the Charlotte Housing and Neighborhood Services Director, said. “The challenge we’re faced with today is as real and intense and feels as big as it was. There’s no doubt about it.”

Help with rent payments

About half of the $130 million allocated toward housing in the city of Charlotte went directly to rental assistance through housing nonprofit DreamKey Partners’ RAMP program.

The program was created in early 2020 for rent and mortgage assistance, but quickly transitioned to emergency rental and utility relief when COVID began to spread and DreamKey found a greater need for rental support, Chief Strategy Officer Erin Barbee told The Charlotte Observer. Both the city and county funneled the federal money they received for emergency rental assistance through this program to get it to those in need fast.

“It was a very good process because they were able to get that money out the door quickly,” County Manager Dena Diorio said.

The program allowed for people to receive assistance for several months.

“It was not uncommon for us to see people ask for $12,000 to $15,000 as the pandemic went on because they had that many months of missing rent,” Barbee said.

Between 2020 and 2022, more than 20,000 households were assisted by the RAMP program, Heath said.

How Charlotte spent COVID relief money

The city also used federal funds to create and keep affordable housing.

In September, the Charlotte City Council voted to give $8 million for the renovation of Peppertree Apartments on Central Avenue and to provide rental subsidies for occupants of 44 apartments. In December, the council voted to give $4.7 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars toward South Village Apartments, an 81-unit affordable housing development proposed for a site adjacent to the Scaleybark light rail station on South Boulevard.

It still has more than $23 million in ARPA dollars set aside for “pending housing and homelessness projects” that the City Council is beginning to approve. All the money must be allocated by next year and out of the government’s coffers by Dec. 31, 2026. An example of those pending projects: the council last week approved $1 million toward reducing energy costs for low-income homeowners.

The city and county also used COVID relief to keep some local organizations afloat, including $2 million for nonprofit relief.

Local nonprofit Sustain Charlotte received $200,000 in CARES Act funding that was spent on operating expenses — including employee salaries — as well as cleaning supplies and masks. That helped when the group lost “significant revenue from local companies.”

“The funds allowed us to continue operating with existing staff and not have to lay off anyone, which allowed us to continue making impacts and advancing our mission as well as providing local employment,” said Shannon Binns, Sustain Charlotte founder and director.

Out of $359.47 million the city received in total federal COVID relief, here’s how it budgeted $130 million toward affordable housing initiatives:

▪ $47 million for affordable housing development and preservation

▪ $63 million to emergency rental assistance through DreamKey’s RAMP program

▪ $20 million to housing support, including mortgage assistance, rental assistance, shelter support, supportive housing programs and utility assistance

The city also allocated about $100 million to economic and workforce development and about $100 million to maintain city operations during the pandemic. The remaining money went to arts funding and other community investments.

What now for people who need help?

Though federal assistance helped thousands in Charlotte stay in their homes, it won’t last forever. Charlotte has allocated all of its federal funding, except the $23 million for future affordable housing developments.

The RAMP program that served more than 20,000 is now closed to applications.

“We always knew the funds weren’t going to be forever,” Barbee said.

Now, DreamKey’s priorities have shifted “from everybody, everywhere getting rental assistance to who has the highest need, who has the greatest potential to experience homelessness,” Barbee said. This means a family of four bringing in $28,250 or less per year would qualify, under DreamKey’s income limits.

The federal money bandaged a Charlotte need intensified by COVID-19, Heath said. Now that federal stimulus money has tapered off and COVID feels less like a crisis, Charlotte is getting back to its pre-pandemic way of doing business.

The city now uses its Housing Trust Fund to provide gap funding to developers who need additional money to provide affordable residential units. Those in need of housing assistance can call 211 or visit the city’s website at charlottenc.gov to see a list of available apartments and price points.

Affordable housing remains a strategic priority set by the council for the upcoming fiscal year.

“The City Council has some very high expectations that we find ways to continue to be really creative to make an even bigger difference in this daunting issue,” Heath said.