Mini-Episode: Rent and Utility Relief
On an abbreviated mid-week episode, Executive Director of the Office of Economic Revitalization, Amy Asselbaye, joins host Brandi Higa on the One O‘ahu Podcast to announce the temporary reopening of the City’s Rent and Utility Relief Program.
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Rent and Utility Relief
The City and County of Honolulu’s Rental and Utility Relief Program (RURP), an essential resource for thousands of Oʻahu residents and families who suffered severe financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic, will temporarily reopen for 2,000 new applications from Oʻahu renters at 2 p.m. on June 13, 2023.
The application portal will be available at revitalizeoahu.org/renthelp and will target new applicants.
“Those who haven’t applied to the program or received money previously are the focus of our outreach and also the portal reopening,” added Asselbaye. “Those who have received funding from the program in the past are also eligible to apply for a portion of these funds, but they would go back to the organization, our community partners, Catholic Charities or the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, and reach out to them to start what we call the re-certification process, to re-submit documentation to show that they have continued to suffer economic harm since the pandemic and that they have a household income level that allows them to be eligible for this program.”
Since launching in April 2021, the Rental and Utility Relief Program has helped more than 16,000 Oʻahu families who were struggling with housing expenses, distributing — in partnership with Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi (CCH) and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) — roughly $216 million in federal funds.
Ag Grants
On this episode, Executive Director Asselbaye also reacts to the rollout of $3 million in grants to small farmers, ranchers, and growers on Oʻahu. Asselbaye goes on to explain that this is the first level of grants that OER is providing to small farmers, ranchers, and growers.
“We just made it through the City Council process again to approve another $8 million,” explained Asselbaye. “So we’re very grateful to Council Member Kiaʻāina and all the council members who supported this funding to do what we’re calling food systems grants.”
The Office of Economic Revitalization (OER) has begun awarding a total of 66 grants, ranging from about $10,000 to as much as $49,000, to those who qualified. The complete awardee list is available at oahuaggrants.org.
