Emergency Rental Assistance Program funds to run out soon says MaineHousing

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - Funds from the Emergency Rental Assistance Program are slated to run out within the coming weeks.

The program was given $350 million in 2021 to help eligible Mainers cover the cost of their rent.

Over the summer, those who run the program realized funds would be diminished soon.

“And we anticipate that that will likely get folks through the end of November, give or take, depending on the agency, but we’re at that point,” said Director of MaineHousing Dan Brennan.

As a result, they stopped accepting applications on Sept. 29.

“And so, what we do now is turn to the existing resources that we’ve had. Historically, there’s nothing that we have here at MaineHousing that can duplicate or replicate the size and scope of this program,” Brennan said.

Despite the program coming to a close, the Director of MaineHousing calls it a success.

“At the beginning of the pandemic and at the beginning of this program, we thought we might be able to help around 12,000-15,000 households, given the rental assistance program that we ran in 2020. But, we ended up helping over 35,000 households. So, we were able to reach much further into the state to help many more people than we ever thought we could,” said Brennan.

MaineHousing has a message for those who have been using the program moving forward.

“Well, the first thing I always do is tell people to contact their local community action agency. The Community Action Agencies are a wealth of information and resources around housing instability and other types of assistance. So, with that, always calling your community action agency is a good thing to do,” Brennan stated.

MaineHousing also has a number of resources available on their website.

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