Every week, Next republishes an article from City Manager Oliver Chi’s weekly newsletter.
Sometimes, the numbers do help to tell the story about what’s happening with a particular program… and the numbers from our first Santa Monica Renter Aid (SMRA) application window are illustrative as to why establishing this new initiative was such a priority for our community.
Our SMRA program, which is administered by our Housing & Human Services Department out of the Homelessness Prevention and Intervention (HPI) Division, closed its first application window on August 20. In total, we had 876 applications from renter households across all five of our residential ZIP codes, with the highest volume coming from 90404, home to much of the Pico Neighborhood. More than half of applicants reported being behind on rent (the average applicant was in arrears to the tune of ~$5,700), and the applicant pool included significant numbers of households with disabilities, older adults, families with children, and Spanish- speaking households.
This initial application round, with 876 applicants, really serves to highlight that we have families in Santa Monica who are looking for support in an effort to stay housed. And that’s really why the SMRA program was developed, in order to serve as a homelessness prevention program to help local residents bridge a temporary crisis, all in an effort to prevent displacement and possible homelessness. The research has shown that it is far better – and more cost effective – to help families and individuals remain housed, rather than work to recover after housing is lost.
Taking all of the numbers into account, the first-round application data demonstrates the significant need for renter assistance and housing stability resources in the Santa Monica community.
Our SMRA program is operated by The People Concern (TPC), and to make sure that access matched the need, the City worked with TPC to host 11 in-person application support sessions (these were held at Virginia Avenue Park, the Main Library, and the State of the City event).
Through those support sessions, we were able to help more than 100 residents complete SMRA applications. Of note, during one of the support sessions, a local family that had fallen behind after a significant loss of income was able to connect with a Spanish-speaking TPC staff member. Through that engagement, we were able to work through their concerns and help them complete an application. Ultimately, the household was prioritized for assistance, which demonstrates how accessible and trusted support can help residents facing barriers connect with available City resources to regain housing stability.
Enrollment of prioritized households is now underway, and applicants are also being connected to additional homelessness prevention resources. Moving forward, the City does have future application windows planned, as the City has allocated $6M in initial program-year funding for the SMRA program.
Kudos to our HPI team for their tremendous work in getting the SMRA initiative launched! We’ll have more to share in the weeks ahead, and for more information, don’t hesitate to visit our online Renter Aid website here!
Author
About The Author
