A summary report from the Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development (OCED) shows financial assistance requests made during the first quarter of 2021 (January through March 2021) to the Barrier Buster Unmet Needs Fund continued to provide residents with direct assistance to pay for emergent needs. More than $146,000 in assistance was provided to 312 households to help them stay housed, cover utility and medical bills, and transportation costs.
While the average amount of assistance requested per household decrease from last quarter, the total amount of financial assistance increased by 47%. Immigrant households were particularly impacted, with 55% of financial assistance going to support them. 59% of total funded requests supported utility costs, such as gas, electricity, and phone services—an increase of 17% from the last quarter of 2020. This increase is due, in part, to fact that the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance (CERA) program is available to provide residents with financial support for rent.
View the full summary report here.
Individuals interested in supporting Barrier Busters are now able to make donations to the Emergency Unmet Need Fund, where 100% of their donation will go to helping an individual or family in our community. Donations can be made by clicking on the following link, and selecting “Washtenaw” from the drop-down menu of counties: http://bit.ly/bb-donations.