Deadline looms for rental, utility assistance program

Jun. 15—The Kern Housing Authority has already budgeted out about $65 million to help qualifying residents who might be a little behind on their rent or utilities since March of 2021.

However, agency officials made an announcement Wednesday to remind people that the money won't be around forever.

In fact, due to the rate that Kern Housing is receiving and processing applications, the total pot of funds for rent and utility assistance — $80 million in state and federal money given to the city and the county, which have contracted with Kern Housing to distribute said funds — will be closed to new applicants after Sept. 1.

The rental and utility assistance currently is available on a first-come, first-served basis for people who are at or below 80 percent of the area's median household income, listed as $39,150 on the program's website. It's intended to help with up to 15 months' worth of rent and utility bills.

"So we'll be assisting people directly with applications and holding enrollment events through the month of July," said Heather Kimmel, Housing Authority assistant executive director, "but yeah, people should really ... apply as quickly as possible, if they believe that they're going to need the assistance — and not wait till the last minute."

After July, in order to help as many people as possible and stay in accordance with U.S. Department of Treasury regulations regarding the assistance program, Kimmel said eligibility for the funds will only be for those considered "High Needs" — meaning an earned income 50 percent of the median. And by the end of the following month, the application window will be closed.

Eligibility requirements also include having at least one member of a household who qualifies for unemployment or has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs or experienced a financial hardship due to COVID-19, and an ability to demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, according to the Housing Authority website.

The reality of the pending deadline has sparked a sense of urgency about getting the word out with several local groups that work in communities where there is the greatest need for the rental and utility assistance program, which is known as RUP.

While COVID-19 numbers may be reaching the endemic phase, according to health officials, for many who are struggling, the pandemic and its subsequent effects are still being felt, according to community advocates.

To date, the RUP has helped 10,087 households throughout the county since it first became available in March of 2021, Kimmel said, which has accounted for roughly $55 million. The other $10 million already budgeted is for 2,700 other applications that have made it through the authority's initial screening process but have yet to be funded — totals that average out to approximately $4,300 in aid per household.

While local agencies in charge of distributing the money were given until September 2025 to give it all out, they were also encouraged to give out the money as fast as possible, Kimmel said.

To that end, organizations that support underserved pockets of Kern with information about government assistance, such as CityServe, KNUCKLE UP Ministries and the MLK CommUnity Initiative, have increased their efforts at outreach of late, and worry about what will happen in September. But challenges remain in getting the word out.

"It's a huge concern," said Arleana Waller, CEO of the MLKcommUNITY Initiative, which is also known as Circle of Life Development Foundation, an organization that regularly conducts outreach to help underserved populations. "Because ... the pandemic is not over for a lot of people, especially essential workers, especially those in lower socioeconomic communities and especially those with a language barrier who are not getting this information."

After learning of the deadline, she said her organization made plans to ramp up its efforts to make sure as many eligible people as possible apply ahead of the deadline. She also said she wanted any churches or community organizations that might be interested to know that she has staff dedicated to working with people on applications, and they're welcome to reach out if they need help.

"Our team is on the ground doing canvassing, we're doing outreach," she said. "We're doing workshops. We're meeting people in our office, we're working all the outlying areas — Lamont, Delano, Wasco, Arvin, California City — because we realize those outlying areas, a lot of information is not getting to those residents. And you will be surprised that people still don't know that this is accessible to them."

Housing officials don't have any indication yet that there will be more funding available once the region's current $80 million allocation is given out. But it's a situation officials are keeping an eye on, Kimmel said.

"We're constantly monitoring to see if the federal or state government is going to continue to authorize funding for the rental assistance program," Kimmel said. "We're hopeful that they'll see the need and allocate some money out of a future budget. But right now, we haven't seen anything."