COVID-19 rental assistance since March 2021 reaches $17.14 million

Data collected and analyzed from Utah’s pandemic-related joint Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) now shows that $17.14 million in federal ERAP funds have been paid out in Salt Lake County, helping 12,190 Salt Lake County residents since March.

Three months into the new rental assistance program, Salt Lake County data shows women are applying for rental assistance at a higher rate than men. Approximately 60 percent of applicants are women, and the largest portion are women unemployed for more than 90 days.

“The demand for rental assistance funds this spring has exceeded our expectations,” said Michael Gallegos, director of Salt Lake County Housing & Community Development. “While we’re ahead of where we thought we would be, there are still plenty of funds available, and we encourage residents to continue to apply, especially as we know the CDC’s eviction moratorium will end after June 30.”

While a number of Salt Lake County residents have bounced back from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic, there are still significant efforts underway to help residents facing ongoing housing insecurity. ERAP recipient race demographics match or exceed county demographics, showing that rental assistance funds are getting into traditionally underserved populations.

“We know there are geographic areas of higher need, and diverse populations that may require support to apply,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson. “We are addressing those needs as they’re identified by the community and data. We are also utilizing organizations in our outreach grant program to assist disproportionately impacted individuals in tapping into this critical resource to avoid eviction.”