In the first five months of 2009, about 545 northeast Ohioans called 211 looking for help staying in their rented homes or apartments. Fast forward to the same time period this year when 3,800 people called. United Way's Steve Wertheim says that's about a 600 percent jump.
Steve Wertheim: What concerns me is that last year's folks who couldn't pay their mortgages because of the economy might be this year's renters who can't pay their rent.
About $1.2 million in stimulus dollars from the federal government opened up a dormant program providing more rental assistance to people based on their income. Evelyn Rice helped adminster this aid at The Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland. The nonprofit agency helped nearly 1,400 people since last August catch up on their rent payments. Rice says help went to the poor and a new group: the recently unemployed.
Evelyn Rice: When there is money available we see the influx of people who need it. What people do when there is no money is they do what they have to do. They double up in housing.They enter shelters. And they are constantly looking for these resources but they are very limited.
Rice says her organization shut down their rental assistance program two weeks ago because the funds are gone. If new money becomes available, Rice says, they will restart it.