Wake still struggling to get rent, utility bill aid to those in need

Diana Powell, a community activist and executive director of Justice Served North Carolina, said she knows of people who have been waiting for months to get assistance with their rent or utility bills.

"People are now sleeping in their cars. They have been displaced," Powell said Wednesday. "How can you sleep at night knowing a child is outside on the street sleeping?"

House Wake! has committed more than $46 million to those in need, but that's only 44 percent of the money available to the organization. By contrast, the state's Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions program, which benefits more rural areas across North Carolina, has disbursed more than 60 percent of its federal funding.

HOPE program officials said they rank third in the country in households served and sixth for rental assistance spending.

"This is a priority, and we know there are people that are hurting," Deputy Wake County Manager Duane Holder said. "We know people are on the verge of being evicted or [have been] evicted.”

In some cases, Holder said, people simply don't qualify for aid. In others, many didn't provide complete applications. But he added that officials recognize the system itself also has problems.

"Our vendor has been experiencing some staffing issues and turnover, and those issues are being addressed," he said.

More than 10,000 people are in the pipeline for House Wake! aid.

"One of the things I have encouraged our staff to do, and I know our staff is working on, is figuring out ways that we can ... better cut through the processes," said Matt Calabria, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners.

Holder said he's asked the vendor to focus on applicants who have been waiting the longest, and he said he's confident the county can pick up the pace of distributing needed aid.

Powell said she hopes that's true, so that she hears fewer stories of hardship.

"The money is there – it is there. We just cannot make that connect between the money and the people who need it,” she said. "They have lost hope in the process."

Applicants can check the progress of their aid request online and meet officials in person at the Wake County Courthouse to get questions answered.