Orange County NC Website
16 <br /> 1 rapidly in later months in response to the great need for housing and utility assistance with the <br /> 2 onset of COVID-19 in March 2020 and the lockdowns that followed. The EHA program has used <br /> 3 many different funding sources since its inception, including CARES Act funding from local, state, <br /> 4 and federal sources, the HOPE 1.0 program, Community Development Block Grant CARES Act <br /> 5 funding (CDBG-CV), and the program is currently using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) <br /> 6 funding. The County has a $4.4 million in remaining APRA funds that must be allocated by <br /> 7 December 2024 and expended by December 2026. <br /> 8 <br /> 9 Between January 2020 and September 2022, the EHA program has assisted 2,593 households <br /> 10 in Orange County, providing $13.7 million in rent and utility assistance. 49% of the households <br /> 11 served are Black/African American, 19% are Latin, 8% are multiracial, and 18%White/Caucasian. <br /> 12 Of the households served, 74% are at extremely low income at 30% Area Median Income (AMI) <br /> 13 and below, 21.5% are very low income at 50% AMI and below, and 4.5% are low income up to <br /> 14 60% AMI. These households were primarily located within the Towns of Chapel Hill (49%), <br /> 15 Carrboro (28%) and Hillsborough (11%), and 24% were located in the unincorporated parts of <br /> 16 Orange County. <br /> 17 <br /> 18 Funding demands for the Emergency Housing Assistance program for FY 2022-23 will exceed <br /> 19 available budgeted funds. At the same time, communities across the country are scaling back <br /> 20 emergency rent assistance programs as COVID-related funding sources are depleted. Housing <br /> 21 Department staff have worked with the Housing Directors for the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, <br /> 22 and Hillsborough, and consulted best practices nationally and developed three Options for <br /> 23 continuation of the Emergency Housing Assistance program: <br /> 24 1. Keeping the program eligibility and services offered largely the same to provide income <br /> 25 support for low-income households <br /> 26 2. Narrowing focus on program eligibility and services to primarily stabilize households <br /> 27 3. Narrowing focus even further on program eligibility and services to prevent eviction and <br /> 28 homelessness <br /> 29 <br /> 30 Corey Root, Housing Director, gave the following presentation: <br /> 31 <br /> 32 Slide #1 <br /> nORANGECOUNTY <br /> HOUSING DEPARTMENT <br /> ErnYer encyT Housing Assistance <br /> November 15, 2022" <br /> 33 <br /> 34 <br />