By Chad Ingram
Staff reporter
The City of Kawartha Lakes which is the social services provider for Haliburton County has designed a program to assist landlords in housing the homeless during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rapid Re-Housing Program provides financial assistance to landlords who make units available for this purpose. “During the pandemic the most vulnerable are at an even higher risk and the city is looking to landlords to help house homeless community members” reads a release from the City of Kawartha Lakes. “There is a high demand for bachelor or one-bedroom units.”
As of mid-April there were nearly 100 registered homeless individuals in the area of the city and county combined. “The majority are single and there are nearly 20 families and several seniors youth and couples” the release reads.
Through the program the municipalities will provide the landlord funding to prepare units for tenants to move into; conduct COVID-19 screening prior to move-in and daily COVID-19 screening thereafter; choice of tenant; three months’ prepaid rent; and a last month’s rent guarantee.
Any landlords interested in the program can fill out a form at https://www.kawarthalakes.ca/
