Gov. Walz Allocates $100 Million for COVID-19 Housing Relief
ST. PAUL, Minn.– Financial impacts from the pandemic have made it harder than ever for some Minnesotans to pay rent.
But Governor Tim Walz and other state leaders are doing what they can to help in the form of a multi-million dollar housing assistance program.
More than 140,000 households in Minnesota making less than $50,000 a year and are paying more than half of that toward rent. Now, Governor Walz is putting forward additional funding to help Minnesotans make rent during the pandemic.
“Evictions are a statewide issue. This is not a city problem, this is a statewide problem,” said Minnesota Housing Commissioner Jennifer Ho.
The governor announced that he would be using $100 million, the highest amount used from the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund, for rental help and mortgage assistance for those impacted by the pandemic.
The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency has now launched a COVID-19 housing assistance program. Grants will be made to local administrators who will provide the grants to their communities. Adding that the number one reason why people are evicted is because they can’t pay their rent.
“We were on a call with our banks lenders who voluntarily got on a program to help us with trying to lean into this and i think the message there is, they don’t want to see people evicted they don’t want to see loans go bad. They want to find out if there’s ways to work,” said Walz.
State officials hope to have applications open in early August. They add that this additional funding will give Minnesotans the assurance of having a safe place to call home as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
“During a pandemic, these resources will help many Minnesotans from losing their homes,” said Ho. “equally important is that we had a shortage of housing before the pandemic. We need more housing. Shelters save lives and housing ends homelessness.”
Governor Walz says the program should be up and running soon and hopes to have the funds in place to help Minnesotans pay for September rent.
