Every week, Santa Monica Next re-publishes a story from the City Manager’s Newsletter. This week, the story has been slightly edited because the newsletter was published on Sunday, and the opening happened yesterday.
Santa Monica has officially launched Santa Monica Renter Aid, a new homelessness prevention initiative funded by voter-approved Measure GS and developed by the city’s Housing & Human Services Department.
Years in the making, the program advances a core Realignment Plan goal of helping all Santa Monicans access and sustain safe, stable housing. The Renter Aid program provides one-time or short-term financial assistance and housing stabilization services to eligible renter households facing a temporary housing crisis, and is projected to serve approximately 150 households annually. The first application window runs from July 20 through August 20, 2026.
From the beginning, the guiding priority has been reaching the Santa Monica households at greatest risk. Residents can apply online through the Santa Monica Renter Aid webpage or receive in-person application support during weekly assistance hours at Virginia Avenue Park and the Main Public Library, where our program partners at The People Concern offer paper applications, multilingual support (including bilingual Spanish-speaking staff), and accessibility accommodations.
Assistance is awarded based on program eligibility, prioritization criteria, and available funding, and the program integrates with existing City-funded and regional prevention efforts to form a coordinated continuum of eviction prevention and housing stabilization services. It reflects a simple truth at the center of our broader homelessness response: the most effective and most humane intervention is the one that keeps a family from losing their home in the first place.
The People Concern team administering the program is also on hand at Thursday’s State of the City event to share information and help residents apply on the spot. The launch also deserves recognition for how it came together. Santa Monica Renter Aid is a true whole-department effort by Housing & Human Services, developed by the Housing Division, solicited and procured by the Human Services Division, and now administered by the Homelessness Prevention and Intervention Division. Three teams in the HHS Department are working toward one goal: keeping our neighbors housed.
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