What the end of pandemic rental assistance means for Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A looming federal deadline is putting pressure on housing resources locally.

Remaining pandemic emergency rental assistance dollars have to be spent by September. The deadline means the end of millions for people facing homelessness and eviction. Some nonprofit groups that NBC4 Investigates spoke with are raising the alarm.

“Even with this additional one-time funds, we had more people expressing homelessness, more people not able to afford their housing, food and all the things that they need for themselves or their families,” said Ben Sears, executive director of Columbus Coalition for the Homeless.

The city is developing a strategy with local money, but the amount is millions less than what was allocated during the pandemic. This is something many have been expecting but still are worried about.

“We're seeing it firsthand. We're seeing that services are being cut, services are being scaled back,” said Emily Myers, founder of Heer to Serve, a nonprofit that supports and advocates for people experiencing homelessness. “We're seeing more people in cars than we've ever seen, more elderly folks that are living in tents.”

Other nonprofit partners share her worry.

“I'm increasingly concerned that people that are receiving financial assistance right now won't have the same level, which is to be expected as a system of care resets after the funding ends,” Make a Day Executive Director Christy Hayes said.

Over the past four years, Columbus has received more than $96 million in federal funding for rental, utility and stability assistance, helping more than 32,000 households.

“We're heading towards this cliff where costs keep rising, the funds for support are being pulled away, and I think we're just going to have this unbelievable number of people experiencing homelessness,” Sears said.

Part of that federal funding paid 28 people who worked as housing coordinators to help the unhoused find shelter and homes. That number will go down to six.

“It does require a narrowing of resources, but we want to continue to target to those who may not access the traditional system, those who may be doubled up, who may be couch surfing,” Department of Development Deputy Director Hannah Jones said.

The city is starting an initiative for local housing support. On Monday, city council will vote on $3.4 million for the Resilient Housing Initiative.

“It will be harder to qualify for the rental assistance component,” Jones said.

City leaders will be taking a look at the housing strategy throughout the city.

“The federal Emergency Rental Assistance program achieved an incredible impact during a time of extraordinary need, but we know this work isn’t done,” Mayor Andrew Ginther said in a news release. “The Resilient Housing Initiative reflects our long-term commitment to helping residents stay housed.”

“It is both the need to address the supply issues and to create more opportunity for people to access housing so that there isn't a pinching of access. But there is also a desire to address those who are in crisis now and those who can't wait for the supply to come online,” Jones said.

This support would serve an estimated 600 households, a fraction of what was able to be served with the federal funds.

That reduction is what has community partners worried.

“I think it's challenging for us to say that we won't be hit with a tidal wave. But I hope that the community and local leaders really take this moment to ask how do we use these lessons that we've learned from this extraordinary investment that we've made, the rapid response, how flexible we've been, the trust that we've built, and really create a long-term policy,” Hayes said.

The city has until September to spend the last of that federal money, and it is expected to approve that spending Monday.

The Department of Development will work to start the locally funded Resilient Housing Initiative in September. It will run through March, and then the department will return to the city to ask for more funding to potentially expand the program.