By Liz Holland

Tenants who struggled to pay rent and utility bills during the Covid-19 pandemic could get help from a $7.38 million grant to Wicomico County for rental assistance.

The money will be split between Salisbury Neighborhood Housing, Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County and SHORE UP! to administer the grant. All three nonprofits are experiencing calls for help, said Cheryl Meadows, executive director of Salisbury Neighborhood Housing.

“If our phone’s ringing, it’s usually a rental assistance call,” she said.

The money won’t be available until June 1, but applications are available on all three of the agencies’ websites.

The money to the county is part of $192.9 million in funding that was awarded to local governments and service providers through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program announced last week by Gov. Larry Hogan.

“Throughout the pandemic, Maryland has had one of the strongest eviction moratoriums in the nation to keep renters safe and secure in their homes despite economic hardships related to Covid-19,” Hogan. said “We continue to work at the state and local levels to help tenants and landlords bring rent payments current, giving them firmer footing on Maryland’s path to recovery.”

Meadows said there are fewer restrictions on this grant unlike some previous rounds of rental help funding that came through last year. Salisbury Neighborhood Housing has already sent out 35 applications for the new grant to people who didn’t qualify before.

The grant will cover up to one year of past due rent, plus three months in advance. It also will cover the security deposit and first month’s rent for anyone moving to a new rental property. People who got help before are eligible to apply again, she said.

Anyone living in Wicomico County and its municipalities are eligible for rental assistance through this new grant.

To apply for rental assistance, contact one of the three nonprofit agencies that are administering the funds:

• Salisbury Neighborhood Housing: visit salisburynhs.org or call 410-543-4626.
• Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County: visit wicomicohabitat.org or call 410-546-1551.
• SHORE UP!: visit shoreup.org or call 410-749-1142.

The funding is the latest federal grant for rental assistance awarded to the county since the start of the pandemic.

Last summer, the county received $1.1 million to help people who live outside Salisbury limits, while the city of Salisbury received a separate $200,000 coronavirus relief grant.

In December, the county received $300,000 from the Corona Relief Emergency Fund that was divided among Salisbury Neighborhood Housing, Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County and the Wicomico County Local Management Board.

The county also got a $900,000 Maryland Eviction Prevention Partnership grant in January and the city of Salisbury received a $90,000 Community Development Block Grant that was used to help 35 families.

This latest round of funding is in addition to $143 million in federal assistance to Maryland that was allocated directly to eight jurisdictions with populations over 200,000.