Preventing Homelessness During COVID-19

A single mother of three children in Chino Hills, California was struggling to pay rent. She lost her job due to COVID-19, and was relying on her son’s SSI benefits to keep her family afloat. Caring for her son with autism and helping her children with remote learning made it difficult for her to find new employment. After applying for unemployment benefits and not receiving assistance, she feared she and her children would lose their home. She turned to LifeSTEPS for help, who provided critical intervention and rental assistance until she could get back on track. She now has a new job, and the family is back on its feet.

March marks one year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the course of the crisis, LifeSTEPS has provided more than $550,000 to keep struggling individuals, families and seniors across California from losing their housing. By helping residents stay positively focused on solutions to problems, such as falling behind on rent, LifeSTEPS helped prevent homeless, minimize anxiety in the household and help our residents stay out to debt during an unpredictable climate.

Low-income housing communities have been hit hard by COVID-19. At LifeSTEPS, we’re thrilled by the success of our rental assistance program and intervention tactics and we’re proud that we helped residents find stability and security during these challenging times. Rental assistance helps keep residents safe and in their homes, allows our residents to focus on finding employment, budgeting, helping with children’s school work and most importantly, feeling like there was hope.