Rent assistance is ending in Mecklenburg County. Hundreds may be out of luck.
With $2.4 million left in the piggy bank, funds for Mecklenburg County’s rent assistance program are dwindling and is slated to end, officials announced Thursday.
The rental assistance mortgage program — named RAMPCharMeck — will close its application portal on Tuesday. Applications sent to the Mecklenburg County Courthouse also will no longer be processed.
“Though this transition is taking place it’s not ( as if) there’s no help or assistance,” Lashonda Hart, Mecklenburg County’s program manager for affordable housing initiatives, said.
The RAMPCharMeck program started in 2020 and has provided $123 million to support more than 23,000 families with emergency housing and utility assistance during the pandemic, Jennifer Jones, vice president of economic opportunity at DreamKey Partners, said.
The program only has enough money left to assist up to 400 families, Jones said. No additional funding is expected for the program.
As many as 1,255 applications have come in since Nov. 1, with 500 being processed, Jones said. DreamKey Partners will notify those who are unable to receive assistance once the portal closes, she said.
“Our process has always been first come, first serve,” Jones said. “We work applications as they come in.”
It’s a possibility that people who submit their application now through Nov. 15 may not get assistance, she added. There is also a chance applicants currently in the pipeline who may not qualify, could open an opportunity for someone else, she said
In March, the program received $22 million in federal funding to continue its operation. It had closed in January after available funds were nearly exhausted, the Charlotte Observer previously reported.
“The fact the program is closing was designed at the onset knowing this was putting federal stimulus funds to work,” Shawn Heath, Charlotte’s director of housing and neighborhood services, said. “There was finite money and a finite lifespan, and that’s where we’ve reached today.”
Other resources available for families:
- The City of Charlotte’s Dispute Settlement Program, Legal Aid of North Carolina, and the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy offer mediation and legal services.
- Crisis Assistance Ministry offers housing and utility assistance through its emergency financial assistance program. Visit Crisis Assistance Ministry or call 704-371-3001.
- For Food and Nutrition Services (also known as SNAP or EBT), Medicaid, or other benefits, residents can visit Mecklenburg County’s All Access Site or call 704-336-3000.
- Child Care Resources may be able to provide childcare subsidies for children birth to preschool. Call 704-348-2181 or visit the Child Care Resources website for more information.
- The NC Public Health’s WIC program provides basic nutrition services to eligible pregnant women, mothers, infants and children until age 5. Learn more about the WIC program or call 704-336-6500.
- Residents can file for Child Support with Mecklenburg County Community Support Services online, calling 704-432-9300 or visiting in person at 5800 Executive Center Drive, Suite 200.
- For other general health and human services information, call United Way 2-1-1.
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 4:55 PM.
