With so many people out of work for more than a year due to the pandemic, many have fallen behind in their rent or utility payments. Monday, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that $350 million in federal funds were available to help D.C. residents.
The program is called STAY (Stronger Together by Assisting You) DC.
“This program is aimed at helping people stay in their housing, who have been impacted by Covid,” Bowser said. “We know that many residents, through no fault of their own, have lost significant amounts of income over the last year.”
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Residents can log on to https://stay.dc.gov/ to find out what financial support they qualify for and how to apply.
“The money will be used to help residents facing housing instability due the pandemic up to 12 months in back due rent and three months of forward rent and utilities,” Bowser said.
Applicants can call the STAY DC call center at 833-4-STAYDC for support throughout their application process, Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
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The mayor also said she expects D.C. Public Schools to be back to teaching in person, full time next fall, but did add that there would be some type of virtual learning option.
“We expect that some families will need that... and we know that the system needs to have an option in case a cohort or school have to be quarantined, or in the very unlikely instance that we see a rebound of the virus,” Bowser said.
