Lafayette will get $4.8 million from unused rent aid funds around Louisiana

Lafayette Parish will get $4.8 million in additional rent assistance funds to help residents struggling to afford housing thanks to a redistribution of federal rent aid funds.

The funds, accepted by Lafayette’s city and parish councils Tuesday, will add to nearly $22 million in previous federal aid already dispersed to some 5,300 households in Lafayette Parish since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

Lafayette Consolidated Government partnered with SMILE Community Action Agency and Catholic Charities of Acadiana over a year ago to launch its Lafayette Emergency Assistance Program with the funds, which Catholic Charities CEO Kim Boudreaux said has been key to keeping families in Lafayette Parish in their homes.

“This has allowed a number of families that have experienced financial hardship and crisis to retain their housing,” Boudreaux said.

“When we look at issues relating to housing instability, making sure that we prevent as many episodes of homelessness as possible is critical to reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness on our streets in Lafayette.”

The additional funding for Lafayette Parish is coming from a reallocation at the state level. LCG’s rent assistance program has outdone efforts in more rural parts of Louisiana to get the funds to those who need them, thanks in no small part to SMILE and Catholic Charities.

“We have led the state in this effort with the rental assistance,” LCG Community Development & Planning Director Mary Sliman said.

“We were off the ground fast. We were able to engage SMILE and Catholic Charities very quickly to establish our program, and it has been a model for the state, which is one of the reasons I believe that we have continued to receive additional funding.”

Boudreaux pointed out that while Lafayette’s need for aid and the program’s success are clear, rural communities can face similar needs but struggle to organize such programs because of their limited resources.

“It’s a reallocation of funding that was originally meant for other communities, so it’s bittersweet that Lafayette has been able to be actively administering these program funds, which our community needed and continues to demonstrate a need for,” she said.

“But we hate to see that other communities have not been successful in implementing this program.”

The LEAP program is available to residents of all parts of Lafayette Parish but does not extend to the full-service areas of SMILE or Catholic Charities of Acadiana.

The funds are used to directly pay landlords and utility companies for as much as 12 months of unpaid rent or bills, with a three-month extension available under certain circumstances. The program is open to Lafayette Parish households with income levels below 80% of the parish's median income for their household size.

For a family of four in Lafayette Parish, the income limit would be $61,200 in 2022. More information on income limits is available online from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Parish residents can apply for assistance online at smilecaa.org, by phone at (337) 234-3272 ext. 200 or in person at SMILE's downtown Lafayette office at 501 St. John Street.

Priority will be given to applicants from households that include someone who has been unemployed for over 90 days or households earning below 50% of the parish's median family income, or $38,250 for a family of four.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Lafayette will get $4.8 million from unused rent aid funds around LA