Residents of the City of Kenai who applied for the city’s housing assistance program, but never responded to the case workers who tried to contact them, are encouraged to do so immediately. As of December 24, 72 applicants did not respond.
The program ceased taking applications at the end of November, so no new applications are being accepted, but those who managed to apply on-time should still reach out to check on the status of their application. Only do so if you have not already spoken to a case-worker.
The Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, which is managing the program for the city, and its contractor, Catholic Social Services, will continue trying to contact applicants and review their cases for eligibility through January 31. Catholic Social Services is handling the review process under contract to the housing agency.
Larry Persily with the City of Kenai says that not only should the 72 applicants reach out, but they should not be deterred if they have found a way to cover rent for the past few months, as the grants go directly to landlords who may be able to apply it to future credits: “We looked and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got 72 people who may have moved, they have have gone back to work,’ but they need to know that if they don’t call back soon, they’re going to turn into pumpkins – or their applications will. We want to reach as many people as we can. If they’re eligible, then we would send the rent check to the landlord and they can figure out how to apply it. Maybe, they’re behind by a month or maybe they want to apply it to February rent and give them a break – that’s been [the applicant] and the landlord.”
Persily also noted that some applicants may have moved out of Kenai and are no longer pursuing the assistance, but for others, it may have been a matter of a clerical error. If incorrect phone numbers and e-mail addresses were submitted with applications, there would be no way for the case worker to follow-up with each applicant.
The case worker can be reached via telephone at (907) 360-0841, or via e-mail at [email protected]. He told KSRM News that leaving a voice mail is encouraged, but that if his mailbox is full, to please e-mail to initiate the process.
