Demand for the new Tarrant County-funded rental and utility assistance program was so high, the application portal had to close four hours after opening, according to the nonprofit that runs the program.
Last month, Fort Worth’s Center for Transforming Lives won a $2.3 million contract with the county to administer the Community Outreach Fund. After opening on Nov. 3, 170 applications flooded in, Center CEO Carol Klocek said during an open house about the program Tuesday night at the Center’s South Riverside Drive campus.
“People were here at 7:30 in the morning waiting for us to open the doors,” she said. “We hadn't even advertised the program yet.”
Staff closed the portal to work through the applications, and $45,000 was disbursed in 11 days, Klocek said. The program is a short-term homelessness prevention effort, offering one to three months of help paying rent, utilities or both.
Participants can also get help from the Center's case managers, who can connect them with longer-term aid if they need it.
The Center’s contract with the county is for one year, with the possibility of renewal. Klocek acknowledged the possibility that the money could run out early.
"What we want to do is stabilize as many households as we can, and do that quickly,” she said. “That's our primary charge."
If the program runs out of money that fast, it might push the Tarrant County Commissioners Court to fund it even more, Democratic County Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr. said after the event.
"How can you refute the evidence?” Miles said. “If you run through $2 million, then it's incumbent upon us to say the need is greater than we anticipated, and we need to put more money into this program."
Miles voted alongside his Republican colleagues to close the county’s own rental and utility assistance arm, the Department of Human Services, back in August. County staff told commissioners the department was leaving millions of dollars in aid money unspent, and partnering with an outside nonprofit would get more money to people in need.
The Center also took on some clients already working with the county, so they didn’t have to go through the application process again, said Rand Otten, assistant director of the grants program for Tarrant County’s budget department.
Two million dollars isn’t enough, according to Klocek. Rising housing costs, stagnating wages and layoffs have made surviving in Tarrant County more difficult than ever, she said.
"It's a time of very high need and a lot of fear for people," she said.
People in need of assistance can apply online at the Center for Transforming Lives’ website, or in person. The portal is still closed due to the volume of applications, but it is expected to reopen the Monday after Thanksgiving, Center spokesperson Trish Rodriguez said in an email.
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