Volusia County Emergency Rental Assistance Portal Opens On Wednesday

DeLand, FL – The portal to the Volusia County Emergency Rental Assistance Program opens at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. More than 1400 families and individuals have been helped so far.  Carmen Hall, Community Assistance Director for Volusia County said that the county has been offering the program since March 2021.  “We have expended and committed over $13 million. I say committed because those are funds that are set aside for people who are already eligible. They just haven’t been paid yet.” Hall said there’s a bit more than four million dollars available and the portal will close once they’ve received 500 applications. “Once we process those applications, if there’s still funding available, then we will accept more applications in about a month. It just depends on funding availability.” Some people aren’t eligible because of income criteria but many times, Hall said people don’t get help because they don’t follow through. “They may not be responsive.  Sometimes people are very responsive and then as we ask for additional information, they choose not to respond. But, I will say even if somebody hasn’t been responsive, for a while, if they’ve already applied and they reach back out, we will work with them. ” There’s help for those that don’t have home computers. Hall said that navigators will be available across the county Wednesday at 9 a.m. They’ll be at Daytona Beach, DeLand, Deltona, New Smyrna Beach, Ormond Beach, and Port Orange regional libraries plus a few other locations: John H. Dickerson Heritage, Hope Place, DeBary, and Edgewater public libraries. You’ll also be able to find a navigator at the  Emergency Rental Assistance office, 121 W. Rich Ave. in DeLand. You can find the link to the portal at volusia.org.