A program that helps islanders pay the rent to sunset

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Next year, the second of two rental assistance programs that will have provided more than half a million dollars to islanders on the margins will end.

Since March 2020, the Interfaith Council to Prevent Homelessness (IFCH) has helped to keep island families in their homes through two robust assistance programs: its Virus Rent Fund, which ran in 2020-2021, and the New Rent Program, which began in 2022 and will end in May of 2023.

Program coordinator and long-time island activist Hilary Emmer has been a passionate advocate, persistent fundraiser, and skilled administrator throughout the lifecycle of the funds. And in an interview with The Beachcomber, she said that ending the programs is “heartbreaking.”

But given the outsized burden, continuing it is simply untenable, she said.

“It has been 32 months since IFCH started asking for donations to keep people housed,” Emmer said. “Since that time we have raised $665,000. This is not sustainable and not fair to this Vashon community, which carried the bulk of these donations.”

Emmer said she would be happy to continue the monthly rental assistance program if a government agency were to give IFCH $240,000 to do so, but that she did not expect that to happen. And so, without a major influx of money, the rent program is slated to end in May of next year.

The $240,000 figure referenced by Emmer is the total cost of the 2022-2023 New Rent Program, which distributes $500 a month in direct rental assistance to 40 Vashon households. Qualified participants were selected via lottery, and some are also receiving utility assistance.

The majority of the total funds distributed for the programs have been made up of individual contributions from Vashon residents.

In addition, $141,000 was received from VashonBePrepared in 2020 and 2021, $25,000 from the PSE Foundation, and $65,000 was granted by King County – which also included funds for utility payments. According to IFCH, the vast majority of those payments were made to landlords based on Vashon.

Both assistance programs have helped Vashon families hang on to housing through exceptionally difficult times.

Surveys collected by IFCH for the 2022 New Rent Program illustrate the real-world impacts for recipients in the starkest terms.

One family wrote, “We are ages 71 and 76 and still working. We were initially scared we would quickly become homeless and lose our small business. [Now] we are far more confident we can keep going. Yes, things will still be tight, but we see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The end of rental assistance from IFCH comes at a difficult time for islanders on the margins. Inflationary pressures in the United States economy are still on the rise. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the Seattle area, the Consumer Price Index (the cost of goods and services) increased 8.9% in the last 12 months, with food prices rising a whopping 11.5%. Both are historic highs. Within that, the cost of rent in the Seattle area has increased by 7.9% this past year.

In real numbers, that’s significant for people on limited and fixed incomes: hundreds of dollars a month cost increases for food, shelter, and heat for families, retirees, and single mothers already making hard choices.

The stories of those receiving IFCH assistance illustrate that crunch all too clearly.

“[It was] the first financial relief I’ve felt in countless years – like a 900-pound weight off my chest,” wrote one respondent.

Another commented, simply, “The rent is so high, and they are raising it.”

While losing that $500 a month will be difficult for many, IFCH was clear from the outset that enrollment in the programs was not renewable.

John McCoy, of Vashon’s Society of St. Vincent DePaul (SVDP), is hopeful that the program has helped some households get on their feet more permanently.

“These income support programs do make a difference,” he said. “A certain percentage of people get on their feet. Their income has increased; their ability to pay bills has increased.”

Emmer and McCoy have worked closely on a number of assistance programs, and McCoy praised her work and the IFCH programs.

“She’s a heck of a fundraiser,” he said. “We applaud her efforts.”

Still, McCoy sees the potential for the need to shift to other social services with the end of the New Rent Program.

SVDP itself helps islanders with assistance on rent — part of a wider program of charity that has distributed approximately $314,000 in the past three years.

The largest percentage of those dollars, each year, is to assist islanders with rent and utilities. In 2022 alone, SVDP’s distributed about $65,000 to help islanders pay those costs.

“We would expect demand to go up, but we’re not a substitute [for IFCH program],” he said. “We’re only a short-term bridge. People will probably use the food bank more or rely on family and friends. But the economy is better than it was during COVID. We’re hopeful the IFCH program helped some families transition back to the workforce.”

While some IFCH participants may be able to bridge that gap, others who are prevented from work by age or ability will turn elsewhere. But the program offered, at least for a time, practical and emotional sanctuary.

One survey respondent stated that she changed her overall outlook on finance. “It has been good training to not worry, no matter what the bank account says. Fear is so debilitating,” she said.

Of the impact, another wrote, “My was falling out. After the grant, my stress is gone and my hair stopped falling out.”

Others stated that the program had allowed them to save very small amounts of money to offset rising future costs — if their current social benefits allowed for that.

Unanimously present in the surveys was gratitude.

“I am really appreciating the way the program is being held, free from shaming and Federal red tape,” one recipient said. “I feel that I was/am being treated as a fellow human being. Thank you.”

Of Emmer’s work in particular, one respondent wrote, “Our heartfelt thanks goes out to Hilary Emmer, whose concern for assisting people needing help is unmatched. We cannot thank her enough, not just for what she has done for us, but for how much she cares about others. The world needs more like her.”

Emmer herself expressed gratitude to all who contributed, and to those who ensured that help found those who needed it most.

She consistently acknowledged the important work and relationships built with Vashon Youth & Family Services and the Vashon chapter of the Society of St. Vincent DePaul.

The rental assistance program is only one of the critical services that IFCH offers the Vashon community.

Additionally, the coalition provides free dinners six days a week at the Methodist church – a total of 3,000 meals in 2021. They also facilitate senior access to dental care, assist multiple families with access to transportation, and help with medical fees.

And, until Suds, the local laundromat, closed this year, they also coordinated a free laundry program.

Though the rent program ends in May, Emmer stated that islanders are still able to contribute much-needed donations to the fund.

Checks can be sent to IFCH, P.O. Box 330, Vashon, WA, 98070. Those marked “rent” will be distributed to families in need throughout the winter, to offset rapidly rising heating costs.