Residents Protest End of Rental Subsidies

With days running out before they lose their homes at the end of the month, 60 low-income Glendora residents are fighting to keep the rental subsidies that have allowed them to keep their homes.

Glendora resident Sharon Green, who has long been embroiled in legal battles with her apartment management company and the City of Glendora over what she claimed was a wrongful eviction from her apartment in 2010, camped out in front of City Hall this week to protest the impeding end of the Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program.

City Manager Chris Jeffers said the city’s rental subsidies were funded solely under the city’s now defunct Redevelopment Agency until two years ago when the city began using the state-funded HOME grant to cover rental subsidies. Jeffers said most of the grant funding will be exhausted by July.

According to Jeffers, the city has about $100,000 left from the grant, but that would not cover the expenses for all of the residents in the program.

Rather than use money from the city’s general fund, and apply for a grant Jeffers said the city would be unlikely to receive again, the city is opting out of the program that has allowed many residents to live in affordable housing units within the city.

Glendora resident Maya Quintero told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that the thought of becoming homeless by month’s end keeps her awake at night.

"I hate being in this program, I would much rather be supporting myself with my business" but the economy has made that difficult, she told the newspaper. "Without the subsidy I won't have my livelihood because I'll have to shut down my home-based business of 22 years."

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