Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 9 - 15, 2022 UCW 7 NEWS When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, the economy stuttered to a standstill, and hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians lost their jobs over the next year and a half. Amid the loss of income, the biggest expense for the vast majority of those workers was sometimes left unpaid: rent. To answer this need, Congress allocated billions of dollars in rental assistance through federal stimulus funds. North Carolina cities and coun- ties received those funds to oversee disbursement. Cumberland County and the city of Fayetteville received a combined $18.1 million, which they jointly used to create the Fayetteville Cumberland Rental Assistance Program, or RAP. Nearly eight months after RAP launched, more than $17.3 million has been spent — almost 96% — to aid more than 7,600 renting households, according to figures from the city and county provided to Carolina Public Press. As of late last week, the program is not accepting new applications until it gets new funding, as program admin- istrators still need to work through over 5,000 pending applications. More than 750 new COVID-19 cases, due to the omicron variant, were reported in Cumberland County on a typical day throughout January, well above rates before this surge. If the pandemic continues to close businesses and eliminate jobs, then more help will be needed, said Dee Taylor, Cumberland community de- velopment director. "ere's some uncertainty of what our future poses as it relates to this cri- sis," she said. "If this continues, then yes, more than likely, we're going to need additional aid in the future." 'We were already struggling' Before the pandemic, tenants in Cumberland County were already struggling to pay rent. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's five-year American Community Survey in 2019, 48% of renting households spent 30% or more of their income on housing costs. at's higher than the statewide rate of 43% for the same time frame. e target for many housing experts and advocates is to keep housing costs at or below that 30% mark. "We were already struggling with the lack of affordable housing in our community," Taylor said. "We've al- ways had a short supply of affordable housing. As far as the housing market, it does not help those who are living in poverty. To be able to afford the mar- ket rate housing in our community — that's where you have a big challenge, especially in this community." Increased fees on new round of as- sistance In the last $1.7 million of federal funding into Cumberland's portion of RAP, the county Board of Com- missioners increased the portion of administrative fees and housing stability services from 8% to 25%, CPP previously reported. is is the maxi- mum that U.S. Treasury Department guidelines allow. While RAP will spend 15% on ad- ministration by Innovative Emergency Management, the agency that the county and city contracted to disburse the aid, the remaining 10% will be spent on housing stability services. e U.S. Treasury, in its guidelines for emergency rental aid disburse- ment, allows for eviction diversion programs and case management related to housing stability, among others, under these services. Taylor said the eviction diversion could be used to offset the tenant's costs for legal services and court fees when facing eviction. She would an- ticipate that a majority, though, would be spent on case management, as it helps finalize rental assistance agree- ments between tenant and landlord, especially in Cumberland's case as it navigates through its remaining ap- plications, she said. Most pandemic rental aid already spent by BEN SESSOMS Get certified through FTCC's Corporate & Continuing Education Programs! THINKING ABOUT A CAREER IN HEALTHCARE? www.faytechcc.edu/continuing-education • (910) 486-3923 Cardiovascular Monitor Technician Certified Nursing Assistant Patient Care Technician Phlebotomy Registered Medical Assistant BEN SESSOMS, Carolina Public Press. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200.