Since the pandemic began in March 2020, state housing officials have provided motel vouchers to more than 6,000 homeless families at a cost of $25 million.
On Sept. 30, however, that federal pandemic relief money will run out. Delaware’s emergency housing assistance program will revert to pre-pandemic regulations, which provide families with two to three weeks in a motel while they try to find more permanent housing.
“It just brings the reality that we, like many other states, have a housing challenge. Some individuals do not have enough funding, they don’t have enough income, they don’t have that support,” Renee Beaman, director of the Division of State Service Centers, said during a forum on homelessness Sept. 21.
The forum, held at Newark’s city hall, was organized by State Sen. David Sokola and State Rep. Paul Baumbach.