IDAHO — For the last year, the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authorities and the Idaho Housing and Finance Association have been distributing emergency rental assistance funds from the U.S. Treasury Department. Some of this funding is set to run out in September, but the need for assistance continues to increase.
The Boise City/Ada County Housing Authorities manage the emergency rental assistance funding for the City of Boise and Ada County.
Since the funding has been available, they've handed out $29 Million to more than 6,000 families.
"The concern we have is even with $29 million that we've spent in a year and a couple of months, we're seeing the need for assistance and for housing grow to outpace even what we can do," Deanna Watson, the director of the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authorities said.
Some of this funding is set to run out in September and Watson says she's concerned about what will happen after this.
"The concern is that we will be in a territory that is much more difficult for all of us," she said.
During the 2022 legislative session, the Idaho Legislature approved $50 Million to add more workforce housing. The Idaho Housing and Finance Association is now planning how to implement the legislation and distribute the funding.
"We think that the workforce housing fund will open the doors for a lot of idahoans in the workforce, whether that's first responders or healthcare workers or retail workers or educators," the Director of Communications for the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, Jason Lantz said.
