Tulsa County, City Partner with Restore Hope To Address Late Rental, Utility Bills Payments

During the last week in December, Congress passed the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) to address rental delinquencies and unpaid utility bills. The moratorium preventing landlords from filing eviction cases was also extended.
Under the ERAP Tulsa County received $7.6 million and the City of Tulsa received $12 million. To expedite access to our local program and to save on administrative and operational costs, the city and county partnered to retain Restore Hope as the countywide administrator.
Restore Hope was founded in 1978 to help restore families in financial crisis to economic vitality. For more than 25 years it has been the primary provider in the county to address those in crisis meeting their housing needs. They have decades of experience with federal grants, relationships with landlords, and other agencies.
Working with Nan McKay Associates who has decades of experience distributing over $10 billion in housing funds, Restore Hope has brought the best company to Tulsa to make the offered assistance as easy and seamless as possible.
Since ERAP is a countywide program, Restore Hope has established points of contact in every city in Tulsa County so residents countywide will have a local place to contact for assistance.
Applying via Restore Hope’s website (erap.restorehope.org) is the first step to be considered for emergency rent and utility assistance. Extending through Dec. 31, 2021 those in need of assistance can go to the website to fill out the application, which is offered in both English and Spanish.
“We know there are many families across our community that are hurting right now”, said Jeff Jaynes, executive director of Restore Hope. “I want to make sure that our neighbors across the county, from Broken Arrow to Jenks and from Owasso to Bixby know about this important program”
To make every effort to inform out citizens of this opportunity, Restore Hope is partnering with a local public relations firm to encourage participation which will include targeting digital and special messaging through Google, Facebook, and other means including print, electronic media.
As the county begins to recover from the pandemic, it is critically important that we stabilize the housing for individuals and families all across Tulsa County. As jobs return, schools reopen, and businesses restart, providing secure housing is one of the most important areas where Tulsa County is prepared to help our citizens.