Iowa City's Shelter House awarded $45,000 to help make rent, mortgage, utility payments for those affected by COVID-19

Iowa City launched a short-term program in July to help residents affected by the economic slowdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic with rental- and mortgage-assistance payments as well as payments to cover utility bills to prevent them from losing their home amid the pandemic.

The city gave $45,000 from the Affordable Housing Fund to Shelter House to administer the City of Iowa City Eviction Prevention Program Funds.

"The focus of the money awarded by Iowa City is for gap coverage for those who might fall between the cracks for other assistance," said Rachel Lehmann, the Rapid Rehousing Program manager at Shelter House.

The state's primary housing assistance program during the pandemic has been the Iowa Finance Authority's COVID-19 Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Program. The program provides rent and mortgage payment assistance for up to four months. The governor has allocated $22 million to the program.

► More on the state program:Iowa will help some affected by COVID-19 closures avoid eviction, foreclosure for up to 4 months

But the program has a number of eligibility requirements that lock some people out of receiving assistance. Iowans who've received the $600 federal CARES Act stimulus unemployment benefits are ineligible for the IFA assistance, for instance. Others who are ineligible include undocumented immigrants and Iowans living in subsidized housing or receiving a housing choice voucher.

"These are barriers that we've personally witnessed from people calling for assistance," Lehmann said. "We've gotten over 100 calls at this point."

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Lehmann said the city's program will require proof of loss of income, like pay stubs, and a copy of a rental lease to prove the amount owed for rent or a utility bill. Once that information has been confirmed, Shelter House pays the landlord, property manager, bank or utility directly for the bill. The program is also limited to residents of Iowa City. And providing that the applicant has the right documentation, that assistance, Lehmann said, could come that day.

"We can move incredibly fast if we have all the right pieces of paper. We really recognize how important it is to move as quickly as we can," she said.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynold's moratorium on evictions ended at the end of May. According to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, the Civil Divison served 11 eviction notices in June. While the notices varied, in terms of the reason a property owner or manager was seeking to evict the person, Lt. Raquel Wray said the most common reason was a non-payment of rent.

"Since the pandemic, we have slowed down quite a bit. Obviously, when Gov. Reynolds issued a moratorium on evictions, those came to a halt, which meant we were not evicting people or serving eviction notices. Once that was lifted, we received a few notices," Wray wrote in an email.

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For Iowa City residents who are ineligible for the Iowa Finance Authority's program, the city's fund offers a quick means of providing relief. The maximum assistance available is $3,200, which could be any combination of rent, mortgage and utility payments.

“Iowa City residents know to call Shelter House for their housing-related crises,” said Crissy Canganelli, the executive director of Shelter House. “We are glad to be able to assist the city in ensuring this critical program is accessed quickly and efficiently.”

Because Shelter House participates in the Coordinated Entry System, which tracks instances of assistance across participating programs, the city is able to confirm that assistance isn't being duplicated. According to Tracy Hightshoe, the director of Neighborhood and Development Services for the city, that capability was key to Shelter House earning the bid to administer the program.

Heightshoe said the city's Eviction Prevention Program is aimed at facilitating short-term need until the city receives a $410,422 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, but even then, she said, the benefit of the city program is the comparative lack of requirements for applicants.

"We try to find the best way to find the most people we can with the rules we have, but when you accept federal funds, you accept their rules, too," she said.

Zachary Oren Smith writes about government, growth and development for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Reach him at zsmith@press-citizen.com, at 319 -339-7354 or on Twitter via @Zacharyos.

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