Wake County Takes Action on Emergency Housing Assistance

Last week, the Triangle Apartment Association organized a coalition of community groups and submitted a formal letter to the Wake County Board of Commissioners for $5 million in emergency rental assistance in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

At last night’s meeting of the Board, the Commissioners unanimously approved the House Wake Strategic Plan, which seeks to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts to address the impacts of COVID-19 on residents at-risk of or currently experiencing homelessness. (Read their full news release here.)

The plan, known as House Wake, utilizes approximately $2 million in Community Development Block Grants that were allocated by the CARES Act and provides funding for seven initiatives including most notably:  

• Funding for Wake Prevent!, which would nearly double its capacity to support people struggling to make rent payments;
• Funding for the Rapid Rehousing Permanent Placement Program, which will offer grants to landlords to provide affordable housing by quickly rehabilitating existing units that are currently uninhabitable;
• Funding for the Housing Navigation & Landlord Engagement Program, which works with landlords who have vacant units to place people into affordable housing;

At last night’s meeting, several Commissioners acknowledged that the House Wake Plan is a starting point and that more funding will likely be needed for housing initiatives. The Housing Affordability and Community Revitalization Department has also signaled that they intend to ask for additional resources from the $194 million allocated to Wake County from the Corona Relief Fund and Commissioners will hear these recommendations and make a decision on additional funding at their May 18 meeting.

TAA has positioned ourselves as one of the leading advocates for emergency housing assistance, and over the next two weeks, we will need your help to fight for additional funding. Stay tuned for more information on how you can get involved to help with these efforts.

Questions or want to get involved? Reach out to TAA's Government Affairs Director Dustin Engelken at dengelken@triangleaptassn.org.