It’s hard to believe that NYS shut down in March 2020 due to COVID-19. Although the world is still in a pandemic, COVID has become part of the norm with the help of vaccines and public health protocols. Life has slowly begun to return to pre-pandemic routines.

With that being said, the government sponsored Emergency Rental Assistance Program, the INHS Rental Assistance Program, and the INHS COVID Forgiveness Plan have ended, along with the Eviction Moratorium that was extended for over a year during the height of the pandemic, so what has been the impact of the rental support programs initiated by NYS and INHS.

Throughout the period of the programs, INHS helped well over 200 households, both INHS tenants and renters in four counties it serves, either pay their rent, apply for assistance, or forgive a portion of unpaid rent. Below is a breakdown of each.

INHS Rental Assistance Program
This program was created utilizing repurposed grant funds to provide rent relief for up to three months to eligible households who experienced a loss of income due to the pandemic, including renters in Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties. In total, INHS provided 163 households over $460,000 in rent relief from June 2020 through fall 2021. Funders included NYS HCR, Tompkins County, and Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency.

NYS ERAP
The New York State government sponsored program, Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), ended in January 2023. INHS hired a consultant, Ann DiPetta, to help tenants apply for the program. Ann met with tenants one-on-one, in groups, and communicated regularly with those interested. In total, over $86,000 was forgiven in arrears.

INHS Rent Forgiveness Plans
To help households who were denied or didn’t apply to ERAP or didn’t receive funding through the INHS Rental Assistance Program, INHS designed its own COVID Rent Forgiveness Plan in August 2021 to help eligible INHS tenants who experienced pandemic-related financial hardship. For every on-time and in-full rent payment made, INHS forgave up to 20 percent of their rent balance. When the program was completed in February 2022, INHS had forgiven over $157,000 in arrears. 

Currently, INHS has two other Forgiveness Plans in motion to help households get back on track with rent payments and pay arrears. These programs are ongoing, so forgiveness amounts are not available at this time. 

To provide further guidance and support to its tenants, INHS also referred households to other community resources, including 2-1-1, Unity House, Catholic Charities, Tompkins Community Action, Department of Social Services, Solider On, and more.

Needless to say, without community support, surviving the pandemic and its challenges would have been incredibly difficult. We thank our funders, partners, and tenants for working with us to provide healthy, safe, and affordable housing during such an unprecedented time period.