The following press release was sent to The Bloomingtonian Friday. Here is text of the release:
“August 13, 2020
For Immediate Release
RENT ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE AS EVICTION MORATORIUM ENDS
On Friday, August 14th, the eviction moratorium comes to an end, leaving many Hoosiers vulnerable to the loss of their home.
New Hope for Families and Shalom Community Center are responding with an eviction prevention program in partnership with the State of Indiana.
New Hope for Families ($150,000) and Shalom Community Center ($500,000) were both awarded Emergency Solutions Grants funded by the CARES Act to provide rental assistance to those struggling with paying their rent due to COVID-19.
Rental assistance is available to those who:
Are affected by COVID-19 (medically or financially),
Need rental assistance,
Plan to stay in their home,
Are requesting assistance for their primary residence,
Have a current lease,
Meet the income standards, Do not currently receive other federally funded rental assistance,
And can provide documentation showing their need.
Assistance amounts will be based on the amount of income a participant has for the area they live.
The application is available exclusively at indianahousingnow.org. Interested participants should not contact New Hope or Shalom directly to apply. Once approved for assistance, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA), Shalom, or New Hope will contact the applicant.
New Hope’s Executive Director Emily Pike said, “At New Hope, it is always our privilege to work with families in crisis, and we are proud of our proven track record of moving families through homelessness to stability, but we are much happier when we can help them achieve that stability before they lose their homes. We are thrilled to partner with Shalom and the State of Indiana to work with folks on the edge of that precipice and help pull them back toward safety.”
Rev. Forrest Gilmore, Executive Director of Shalom, said, “Whenever you can prevent someone, especially a family, from becoming homeless, you do it. COVID-19 has created an extraordinary crisis for our economy with many Americans at risk of losing their homes. We are proud to join New Hope to proactively respond to this emergency of these times.”
New Hope for Families is a community leader in social services to families in crisis. It administers a dynamic emergency shelter program, equipping families to progress into stable housing, and offers a vibrant, nationally accredited early learning program that gives children the good start they deserve by nurturing advantages to last a lifetime.
Shalom Community Center, Inc. is dedicated to aiding and empowering people experiencing extreme poverty, especially hunger and homelessness. Shalom provides daytime and overnight shelter, hunger relief, permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, employment support and more to hundreds of people each day and thousands of people each year. In 2019, Shalom served more than 95,000 meals, provided more than 14,000 nights of shelter, and helped house or prevent homelessness for more than 700 children and adults.
For more information on Shalom, visit shalomcommunitycenter.org.
For more information on New Hope, visit newhope4families.org.
New Hope for Families and Shalom Community Center are proud member agencies of the United Way.”
