By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
In just 10 days, more than 500 Wood County families and individuals filed for help paying their rent and utilities.
The flood of applications was so fast that the Wood County Department of Job and Family Services has temporarily stopped accepting requests for help from the COVID-19 Housing and Utility Assistance Program.
The pause will allow staff to process the requests already received, according to Shannon Fisher, employment and support services supervisor at Wood County JFS.
Wood County Job and Family Services Director Dave Wigent knows that when the economy crashes, it’s the population served by his agency that feels the drop most deeply.
“The effect of COVID-19 on the economy is catastrophic,” Wigent said. “When we see the economy tanking, we know these people are disproportionately affected by this.”
Wigent said he has never seen such a flood of requests for assistance with rent and utility payments.
“It’s obviously a time of national emergency,” he said.
Fisher, who has worked at Wood County JFS for 19 years, said the Great Recession brought hardship – but it was spread over a year’s time, not a couple weeks.
“I’ve not seen anything remotely close to this,” she said.
The halt on assistance requests is needed to give staff time to process those requests that have already come in.
“Anyone who has already requested, we will reach out to them,” Fisher said.
The agency isn’t out of COVID-19 response money – but the resources are finite, Wigent said. The funding is a combination of state, federal and some local levy monies.
Wigent estimated that the agency will be able to send out between $400,000 and $500,000 to help with rent and utilities.
“At that point, we’ll have to assess the program,” he said.
The requests started coming in on April 13. Assistance will be provided on a first come/first serve basis for those whose requests were received prior to Thursday, April 23.
If additional funds become available and the ability to accept new requests resumes, notification will be sent out to the community.
State statistics show that nearly 10,000 Wood County residents filed for unemployment in the first couple weeks of April – with many furloughed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The COVID-19 assistance from JFS is up to $1,000 for households without children and up to $2,000 for households with children. The assistance will be paid directly to the household’s landlord or mortgage company and utility companies.
To qualify, applicants must state that they may fall behind on housing or utility payments due to a layoff from employment, reduction in work hours or income or loss of an offer of employment due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Households must have a current gross monthly income at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. For a household of one, this is about $2,100 or less per month. For a family of four, this is about $4,300 or less. The income amount varies based on family size.
Fisher pointed out that emergency funding is still available.
“If someone has children in the household, and has an eviction notice or utility disconnect,” then the agency will continue to take those types of requests at 419-373-6987, she said.
