Neighbor to Neighbor gets $275,000 grant

Funds to go toward rental assistance and housing counseling

Larimer County commissioners approved Monday a $275,000 grant to Neighbor to Neighbor, the county’s housing stability partner, to continue providing rental assistance now that funds from the COVID-19 era American Rescue Plan (ARPA) have dried up.

The funds will come from an excess in the county’s general fund, after oil and gas tax revenue exceeded expectations, Commissioner John Kefalas said shortly before voting with fellow commissioners Kristin Stephens and Jody Shadduck-mcnally to approve the grant.

“We did receive a little additional funds we weren’t expecting from oil and gas,” County Manager Lorenda Volker said Tuesday morning at the commissioners weekly administrative matters meeting.

Neighbor to Neighbor, which helped Larimer County distinguish itself by issuing rental aid more efficiently than all other counties in the state during the pandemic, helps renters in financial distress remain housed by helping pay for rent, utilities and other necessities during times of trouble.

During that time the organization distributed over $20 million in emergency rent assistance to households across Larimer County.

But the funds they used to keep households under a roof during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic came primarily from ARPA dollars, funds that have been spent and not replenished since the virus prompted federal lawmakers to send money to counties.

“Since the pandemic has ended, those federal funds have also ended, but the need in our community has not stopped,” Larimer County Housing Stability Program Coordinator Alea Rodriguez said Tuesday morning.

“In October 2023, we saw statewide record highs in evictions filed across the state. Locally, we saw that through 175 Larimer County evictions filed.”

The new funds will allow Neighbor to Neighbor to continue providing rental assistance as well as housing counseling to “support stability and access to other resources,” Rodriguez said.

In addition to rental assistance, Neighbor to Neighbor offers other support, according to Director of Housing Programs Christy Hayes, like creating a budget, which allows the organization to get a sense of the clients’ finances and determine if they qualify for other services, like vouchers for energy or groceries.

Oftentimes clients are eligible for these benefits but are not taking advantage of them, in part because they don’t know they’re available, Hayes said.

“Evictions are — they’re horrible,” Commissioner Stephens said. “They’re horrible for the people that undergo them, they create trauma in people’s lives, and they need to be avoided at all costs. So the work that you’re doing is vital to our community. It’s keeping people in our community housed and healthy, and we know how important that is.”