Volusia County is gearing up to distribute four million dollars to help those affected by the pandemic pay their rent and utilities. The Emergency Rental Assistance Program can provide up to nine months of rental and utility arrears and three months of forward assistance.

These funds are left over from a federal grant from the Department of the Treasury. Volusia initially started this program back in July, but closed the application window after the first 500 applications had been submitted. This time around, the county aims to help about 500 households who can prove they were financially impacted by the pandemic.

Applications will open online on Volusia County’s website on January 12 at 9 a.m.

To qualify, a renter must have a household income at or below 80% of the area median income and demonstrate a risk of housing instability — on top of losing income during the pandemic. They'll need to include documents proving this with their application.

“There are plenty of resources available for those who may need some assistance, we have navigators available at specific regional libraries here in Volusia County as well as our office located here in DeLand, so we will have navigators on hand to assist them with uploading their documents and completing their application,” said Brittany Louis, Special Projects Coordinator.

Navigators will be available the morning of January 12 at:

• Daytona Beach, DeLand, Deltona, New Smyrna Beach, Ormond Beach and Port Orange regional libraries
• John H. Dickerson Heritage, Hope Place, DeBary and Edgewater public libraries
• Emergency Rental Assistance office, 121 W. Rich Ave., DeLand

 Landlords may apply on behalf of their tenants. They are asked to send an email to era@volusia.org with their contact information.

 If there are funds left over after this round, the county shared that they will reopen the application portal in February.

For more information about the Emergency Rental Assistance program, click here.