Minneapolis Event Will Help People Apply For Rental Assistance, Health Care

From the Minnesota Reformer:

By Max Nesterak

October 5, 2020

Hennepin County will host an in-person event in south Minneapolis on Tuesday to help people apply for rental assistance, health care and other resources as the economy struggles to recover amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

People can receive help applying for government assistance from 12:30-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at Hennepin County’s Office of Multicultural Services at 1201 E Lake St. in Minneapolis. Help will be provided in English, Spanish and Somali.

The need for government assistance has increased sharply since the COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to close or reduce their services, leading to nearly a million Minnesotans to apply for unemployment assistance. In Hennepin County, more than 234,000 residents have applied for unemployment benefits since mid-March.

Early in the pandemic, the federal government stepped in with multi-trillion dollar relief packages to get extra cash to business owners and people who lost their jobs. Still, the aid wasn’t enough to reach all the people who needed it, leading state and local governments to step in with their own relief programs.

That’s created a patchwork of funds, each with its own criteria and application process, that can be difficult to access. Tuesday’s event aims to help people apply for all resources they’re eligible for.

Gov. Tim Walz directed $100 million in federal relief aid to provide housing assistance to people affected by COVID-19, and Hennepin County approved spending $15 million. In April, Minneapolis and St. Paul also offered about one month of emergency housing assistance, but the money was quickly spoken for. The cities received several times as many applications for rental assistance within days.

Demand for housing assistance will virtually always outpace supply given that even before the pandemic, only about one in four households eligible for rent support actually received it.

As the pandemic drags on, Congress is deadlocked over another federal aid package, weeks after much of the money from its previous bills dried up. State and local governments will be unable to fill in the gap given their own severe budget shortfalls and limitations on taking on debt. Housing advocates say without additional help, Minnesota will see a wave of evictions as soon as soon Walz lifts his moratorium.

More information on the event can be found here. Find more information on applying for housing assistance from the state, Hennepin County or Ramsey County by clicking the links.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..