Notice
$552.7 Million for Rental & Utility Assistance Transferred to Pennsylvania Counties
March 11th, 2021Harrisburg, PA - Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced that $552.7 million has been distributed to counties across Pennsylvania to provide rental and utility assistance to eligible Pennsylvanians who have been directly or indirectly impacted by COVID-19.
“Far too many Pennsylvanians are out of work and struggling to pay for basic necessities due to the effects of the pandemic. The Emergency Rental and Utility Assistance Grant Program, unanimously approved by the General Assembly, will provide critical funding to help them keep the lights on and a roof over their head as we all work to get beyond these challenging times.”
Funded by federal grant dollars, the Emergency Rental and Utility Assistance Grant Program is part of the more than $900 million recovery plan established by Act 1 of 2021.
Financial assistance – which must be used to pay for rent or utilities – will be available to households with one or more members who qualified for unemployment benefits, experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to COVID-19. Additionally, Pennsylvanians with incomes up to 80% of the area median income for their household are eligible. In many cases, payments will go directly to the landlord or utility company.
County-level disbursement requests were received from the Governor’s office on March 2 and were paid by Treasury on March 5. The amount sent to each county was determined by a formula based on each county’s population. The specific grant amounts to each county can be found on this interactive map.
For more information about the Emergency Rental and Utility Assistance Grant Program, including how to apply, consult this page at the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services website, which will be updated.
