It’s time for another update on how the ESG-CV funds have been used in Iowa! A report covering the most recent quarter, January to March 2021, has just been released, and it shows some great progress in these funds being used to alleviate and prevent homelessness. These ESG-CV funds are special funds allocated in order to address the homelessness crisis brought on by COVID-19. As we’ve talked about in past updates, Home Forward Iowa played a role in determining how the funds were allocated, and we have continued to play a technical assistance role since then.
The goal is to get these funds distributed quickly so that they can help those who need it faster, and this quarter spending has really ramped up. More funds were spent for homelessness prevention, rapid rehousing, and emergency shelter than were spent in the last two quarters combined. As of the end of March 2021, $2,966,712.90 of ESG-CV funds were used in the first quarter of this year, and $4,787,018.21 have been used in total. We expect that as the federal eviction moratorium expires soon – on June 30 – more people will need rental assistance, and the use of these funds may ramp up even more to address this need.
Here are some stats on who is being helped with these funds:
