NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans today announced that the Mayor’s Office of Housing Policy and Community Development is partnering with The Workforce Group, LLC to assist with the distribution of Emergency Rental Assistance payments funded by the U.S. Department of Treasury. This collaboration was coordinated to expend the additional $37 million provided to the State from Treasury, which has been reallocated to New Orleans.
The Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) previously partnered with the City to distribute rental assistance payments, which assisted in the program’s early start, while remaining below the 10 percent administrative cap established by Treasury. With the assistance of HANO, the City has been able to outperform other parishes and some states by serving more than 11,000 households and issuing over $30 million in payments.
“Now that we know more funding is on the way, we are adjusting the program based on the availability of these additional dollars which allows us to broaden our outreach efforts,” said Marjorianna Willman, Director of the Office of Housing Policy. “This will provide an opportunity for previously assisted households now facing eviction to be assisted twice and for quicker payment turnaround through a vendor with the necessary infrastructure in place to issue emergency rental assistance payments rapidly.”
Robust landlord outreach efforts are being planned to eliminate eviction filings. Several opportunities are also available for households that have already received eviction notices and are going through the eviction process to bring accounts current. City staff will continue to contact landlords that have filed evictions to resolve debts in advance of scheduled hearings. The City’s Right to Counsel Program will ensure that tenants have legal representation should the landlord decide to proceed with an eviction, and funding will be in place for relocation if necessary.
In addition to community events, the City will also collaborate with school administrators, social workers and school nurses to identify families who may need rental and/or utility assistance.
“We will meet with parents at schools to assist them with the application process if it means preventing an eviction,” said Director Willman. “It has been a challenging and labor-intensive program, but not nearly as difficult as it must be for a parent without options to pay their rent. Our office will continue to administer this program vigorously and advocate for funding on the state and federal levels until there is no more funding available.”
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