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City of Chelsea Emergency Rental Assistance Program / Programa de Asistencia en el pago de la renta durante la emergencia

April 30, 2020 by

APPLICATION: Emergency Rental Assistance Application (1)

Aplicación: Emergency Rental Assistance Application_Spanish (1)

Funded by the Community Preservation Committee and Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board, the Department of Planning and Development has established an emergency rental assistance program.

Prior to the pandemic, the crisis of housing affordability heavily impacted Chelsea residents. The City is committed to supporting residents during this period of economic hardship, which has worsened the crisis of housing affordability. As a step to reduce displacement and stabilize housing situations, the City has created this program to offer direct grant funding to residents.

Qualifying applicants may be eligible for a grant equivalent to up to three (3) months of rent, or $5,000, whichever amount is less.

Funding is available for income eligible applicants who meet the program’s criteria.

  • Funding is available for Chelsea residents only.
  • To qualify, your household income must be at or below 50% of the HUD Area Median Income (AMI).
  • Your application must certify compliance with requirements related to household income, assets, and public benefits.
  • Applicants must verify monthly rental obligation with written documentation from the landlord or person they are renting the apartment from.
  • Applicants will be chosen using a lottery system with preferences for families with children, disabled residents, veterans, seniors over 65, households who have been economically impacted by COVID-19 who are ineligible for other forms of federal assistance, and economically disadvantaged residents with household income at or below 30% of the HUD Area Median Income.

How to apply

Printed applications are available for pick-up by City Hall entrance (on Washington Ave.), at the Chelsea Collaborative, and at National Guard pop-up pantry locations each weekday. Applications are also available online: click here for English applications

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Fundado por el Fondo para la Preservación de la Comunidad y la Junta del Fondo Fiduciario de Acceso a la Vivienda, el Departamento de Planeamiento y Desarrollo ha establecido un Programa de Asistencia en el pago de la renta durante la emergencia.

La crisis de acceso a la vivienda impactaba fuertemente a los residentes de Chelsea incluso antes de la pandemia. La Ciudad se compromete a apoyar a los residentes durante este período de dificultades económicas que ha empeorado la crisis de acceso a la vivienda.

Como una acción para reducir el desplazamiento y estabilizar las situaciones de vivienda, la Ciudad ha creado este programa para ofrecer subvenciones directas a los residentes.

Los solicitantes podrán  ser elegibles para una subvención equivalente de hasta tres (3) meses de renta, o $ 5,000, la cantidad que sea menor.

La financiación está disponible para solicitantes que cumplan con los criterios del programa

  • Disponible solo para residentes de Chelsea.
  • Para calificar, los ingresos de su hogar deben ser iguales o inferiores al 50% de los ingresos medios del área según el Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de los Estados Unidos (AMI por sus siglas en inglés).
  • Su solicitud debe certificar el cumplimiento de los requisitos relacionados con los ingresos del hogar y los beneficios públicos.
  • Los solicitantes deben verificar la obligación de alquiler mensual con documentación escrita del arrendador o la persona a quien le alquilan el apartamento.
  • Los solicitantes serán elegidos utilizando un sistema de lotería con preferencias para familias con niños, residentes discapacitados, hogares que han sido afectados económicamente por COVID-19 y residentes económicamente desfavorecidos con ingresos familiares iguales o inferiores al 30% de los ingresos medios del área según el Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de los Estados Unidos (AMI por sus siglas en inglés).

Cómo solicitar

Solicitudes impresas están disponibles en la Alcaldía (entrada de la avenida Washington), en la Colaborativa de Chelsea y todos los días de semana en las ubicaciones de la despensa móvil de la Guardia Nacional.

Las solicitudes también se pueden obtener en línea: visite aquí para las solicitudes en español.

 

CONTACT: 

Sayou Cooper, Housing Development Project Manager, Department of Planning and Development scooper@chelseama.gov

Alex Train, AICP, Assistant Director of Planning and Development

617-466-4192 or atrain@chelseama.gov

Bulletin Board

Displacement threats still looming for too many families

April 23, 2020 by
Displacement threats still looming for too many families
This week we celebrated as Governor Baker signed into law a moratorium on COVID-19 related evictions and foreclosures. While this is a huge victory for our communities and will keep many families stably housed throughout the crisis, our work is not done.
Consuelo Esperanza Alvarado is a single mom with two daughters, ages 15 and 12. For the past four years, she has subleased a single room in a five-bedroom Chelsea apartment for $700/month. On March 27, Consuelo tested positive for COVID and was forced to leave her job working nights at a fish market in order to quarantine. Nearly a month later, she’s still sick, without income, and wondering what will happen to her family when she can’t pay her rent on May 1. She’s facing verbal harassment from the lease holder of her apartment and worries about her daughters, who have witnessed the harassment and are afraid of losing their home – particularly with their mom still so sick.
Consuelo is one of thousands of tenants in Chelsea who are subleasing rooms informally, without any lease agreements on record. Their rights as tenants are unclear, and they are still vulnerable to harassment, intimidation, and displacement at the hands of their lease holders.
The Chelsea Collaborative is currently supporting more than 900 families in Chelsea alone who believe they are at significant risk for displacement in the next two weeks. Most of these are subleasing tenants. Many are sick and already behind on rent. They’re being asked to leave their apartments and are unsure of their rights under the new law. They wonder how they’ll ever catch up on rent payments when the moratorium ends and back payments are due.
We are working with these families and housing attorneys to determine legal protections available, inform tenants of their rights, help mediate housing situations, connect to rental assistance programs, setup payment plans for back rent, and secure new emergency housing for displaced individuals and families as needed.
We need better options and more resources to keep everyone stably housed.
Long-term, we need a plan to keep families in their homes after the eviction moratorium, as rent payments are still due. We continue our call for local and state officials to take the following steps:
  • Expand rental assistance resources for more subleasing tenants to access funds and stay in their homes.
  • Conduct multilingual outreach to increase awareness of the eviction moratorium and tenants’ rights under the new law.
  • Grant rental amnesty to allow impacted families a chance to recover financially once the COVID-19 crisis passes.
  • Pass the Work and Family Mobility Act so individuals and families can access Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) funding and other COVID-19 resources.
  • Pass Right to Counsel legislation and increase funding for civil legal aid when Governor Baker’s emergency order ends.
Feeding Chelsea
In response to overwhelming food insecurity in our community, the Chelsea Collaborative has expanded our pop-up food pantry and moved it to our headquarters at 318 Broadway in Chelsea. Staff and volunteers are also delivering food to vulnerable community members who cannot leave their homes. Food distributions are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5 pm. We are feeding 1,300+ community members each week. We are accepting food donations daily. Call 617-889-6080 to coordinate food donation drop-offs.
One Chelsea Fund
The One Chelsea Fund was established by the Chelsea Collaborative, Green Roots, and The Neighborhood Developers, with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley to provide direct financial support to Chelsea families impacted by the COVID-19 virus. Qualifying families will receive financial support in the amount of $250. Families can request support by completing a short intake form, available here.
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