The City of Wichita ended has ended its participation in the Wichita Emergency Rental Assistance Program, or WERAP.
The program helped residents struggling during the pandemic with rent and utilities. City officials said that funding for the program as been exhausted entirely as of last Wednesday, Sept. 28th.
Statewide funds for the Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance program, or KERA, are also running out. According to the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, that program has awarded over $250 million in aid to more than 75,000 struggling Kansans and 10,000 housing and service providers since its launch in March of 2021. Additionally, Kansas Housing said the program provided services to more than 30,000 residents who were at risk of losing their homes.
Officials said that funds for KERA are expected to be depleted entirely in the coming weeks, and that steps are already being taken to close the program.
You can learn more about the Kansas Housing Resource Center and available pandemic relief here: https://kshousingcorp.org/emergency-rental-assistance/.
