Connections for the Homeless to administer $810,000 city rent subsidy program

Evanston City Council voted unanimously Monday to allow Connections for the Homeless to administer a rent assistance program, the most expensive project approved in last year’s participatory budgeting pilot. It is the first of the seven winning projects to start implementation.

Connections, which also runs the Margarita Inn shelter, will receive $810,000 of the $3 million in federal pandemic relief funds allocated via participatory budgeting. The nonprofit will use the funds to provide 12-month rent subsidies to the “residents of greatest need,” according to a city memo.

The agreement provides that $150,000 will be used to pay two full-time employees to administer the program, and another $81,000 will be used for administration costs, leaving $579,000 for the actual subsidies. Based on participatory budgeting delegates’ estimate of an average monthly subsidy of $1,500, this could provide two years of subsidies to about 16 households.

Why Connections?

Council Member Clare Kelly (1st Ward) questioned why staff recommended Connections administer the program rather than keep it in-house, or search for other agencies via a request for proposals. Kelly suggested it could be rolled into the city’s general assistance program.

Health and Human Services Director Ike Ogbo said the general assistance criteria are stricter than the new rental subsidy rules, and said his department doesn’t have a large enough budget to administer the subsidies along with existing programs.

Community Development Director Sarah Flax responded that the city often doesn’t issue RFPs for this type of agreement, and that this is allowed by federal government rules. She said Connections has administered federal funding the city receives for tenant-based rental assistance since 2015, and said this experience and high capacity for administrative requirements makes the agency uniquely suited for the program.

“It’s a pretty onerous job, it’s not something that you take somebody and say, ‘Hey, want to try this?’” Flax said. “We seek to work with agencies that are in Evanston ideally, but also ones that, in a case like this, have a history of doing this kind of program successfully.”

No program for homeowners

Council Member Krissie Harris (2nd Ward) asked Flax whether the city provided any similar assistance to struggling homeowners; Flax said the city does not, but added that some relief funding may still be available from the state government.

Harris ultimately voted to approve the agreement with Connections, but stressed the need to help homeowners as well as renters stay in Evanston. Many homeowners, she said, are unable to afford their property taxes or have taken out second mortgages. Harris said she herself is often “feeling that crunch” of affording her mortgage and bills while asking herself, “What do I have to give up in place of that?”

“I’m hearing that a lot from the middle class that are now being pushed down and not able to afford a home, who would then be pushed into a program like this because they can’t keep their property anymore,” Harris said. “I understand we’re trying to be fair and equitable, but we need to make sure that that is across the board, for our homeowners, not just our renters.”

Flax told Harris city staff is evaluating how to address affordability issues for homeowners in a new strategic housing plan for the city, currently in development. She raised the possibility of using funds from the Ryan Field community benefits agreement with Northwestern University, which she said “does not come with the kind of restrictions” attached to funds from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“It’s very difficult right now, with our HUD [funding] sources, to do much for homeownership,” Flax said.

Editor’s note: This story has updated to add comments from Health and Human Services Director Ike Ogbo.