New COVID-19 rental assistance program for needy Santa Ana residents

Santa Ana, CA – City Councilman Jose Solorio announced an additional $500,000 of emergency rent assistance for very low-income residents, this time for residents who are unable to pay their rent due to the Coronavirus.

The City Council approved a COVID-19 Response Funding Plan that includes the additional funds to help low-income Santa Ana residents pay their rent. Residents who have been impacted by Coronavirus can apply to receive up to $1,500 in emergency rental assistance toward any rent due after March 19, 2020.

“This money is critical to ensuring our most vulnerable residents aren’t forced out of their homes and onto the street because of this crisis,” Councilman Solorio said. “This new program will help hardworking Santa Ana families who have lost their jobs or seen their hours cut because of the public health crisis. The financial impacts of Coronavirus are serious and if we don’t support working people our recovery will be even more challenging.”

Applications for emergency rental assistance program will be available starting Monday, May 18 at 8 a.m. Apply here then.

Applicants must meet certain requirements, including:

● Must be a resident of the City of Santa Ana with a current lease or sublease agreement with an address in the city

● Must provide documentation of inability to pay rent due to Coronavirus verified by a letter to your landlord (English letter template here, Spanish template here, Vietnamese template here)

● Must qualify as a low-income household, see the income criteria graph for more information

This new rent assistance program builds on the successful program that Councilman Solorio championed last year called “Safely Home in Santa Ana,” which helped City residents facing the threat of eviction and homelessness due to financial hardships. The $100,000 program similarly provided one-time rental assistance to residents and aimed to keep families from falling into homelessness. In addition to having Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army administer this new program, we have also added in Community Action Partnership of Orange County to help serve more families.

“As this current crisis forces more people into a financial emergency, I’m glad the City took action to support our low-income families,” Councilman Solorio said. “This emergency rent relief program is a good start. Much like the Safely Home in Santa Ana program, this emergency rental assistance could mean the difference between a safe home and the street or shelters for many of our families.”

For more information about this new COVID-19 rental assistance program, please visit the program’s website. To find additional resources and information related to Coronavirus, you can also go to OneSantaAna.com.

To learn more about City Councilman Jose Solorio, visit www.JoseSolorio.com, Facebook.com/SolorioForSantaAna, Instagram.com/SolorioForSantaAna or Twitter.com/JoseSolorio.