City rent relief to help people stay in their homes

Posted Jan 26, 2012 By Laura Mueller

EMC news - A program to supplement struggling peoples' rent is finally getting underway.

The program, which is set to help 180 households a year, was part of the city's new $14-million commitment to housing and alleviating homelessness made last year, but the supplements were held up as city staff struggled to get the province to sign off on the program.

The program will provide $250 per month to 180 individuals at immediate and temporary risk of losing their current accommodations, plus $50 for each additional member of the household. There will also be monthly allowances of $250 for 20 homeless people.

The rent-supplement program is part of the city's multi-pronged approached under the $14-million fund. Handing an allowance to people in a temporary financial pinch is cheaper for the city to administrate and contributes to "mixed neighbourhoods" with residents from different income levels and backgrounds, staff said.

The city's community and protective services committee approved the terms of reference for how the program will operate during a Jan. 18 meeting.

"This is going to make a definitive difference for a lot of folks who are living on the thin razor's edge of being able to make it every month or not," said Bay Coun. Mark Taylor, who heads the committee.

Helping families and individuals with a temporary boost as they get back on their feet can prevent them from becoming homeless, which is not only a bad situation for the families themselves, but also for the city and province, because they then become more of a burden on social-assistance programs.

Rent supplements are also one of the few affordable housing strategies that can benefit people in all areas of the city, including rural areas.

West Carleton-March Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, a member of the city's community and protective services committee, said the supplement program casts a wider net for citizens from all areas of the city who face housing insecurity.

"We have to ... think big. Think bigger than the core of the city," El-Chantiry said. "There are rural residents ... they could stay in their own house, their own farms, and she or he needs a little bit of help to stay at home. But if you don't give them that little bit of help, sometimes you're forcing him to leave the home and become a bigger picture in the social system."

El-Chantiry charged staff with ensuring the program would be well publicized in communities throughout the city, not only through social-service agencies, but also other community groups including churches. Since the program is meant to target people who are having temporary financial struggles, the people who would benefit from it the most may not be visiting social-service agencies and therefore may never find out about the rent supplements.

There are already 350 households in Ottawa benefitting from a provincial rent supplement program that will expire in March of 2013 and the city has about a million dollars in a fund to help alleviate the impact of that program ending, city staff told the committee.

A rent supplement is paid directly to the individual who benefits from it, not to the landlord, as rent subsidies are paid. Because of that, there is a monthly tracking process to ensure the household is still eligible.

In order to be eligible, individuals need to be at least 16 years old and legal residents of Canada. Their annual income must not be more than Statistics Canada's "before-tax low" and they cannot be living in rent geared to income housing.

laura.mueller@metroland.com