Emergency Rental Assistance Is Available In Great Barrington

The town of Great Barrington's Affordable Trust Fund has partnered with Construct, Incorporated as they will attempt to provide emergency rental assistance to tenants and landlords in Great Barrington who are financially struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic as both organizations are allocating funds that were received from the local Community Preservation Act surcharge as funds were granted in a previous annual town meeting that was implemented when this crisis became rampant last month.

Applications are available in English and Spanish by logging on to Construct, Inc's web site and by going here or you can access the Town of Great Barrington's web site. If needed, Construct has interpretive services.

To qualify, households need to be earning less than 100% of the Area Median Income and funds will be administered via The Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Construct will administer this program as area residents in need will get connected to existing resources.

Construct's June Wolfe noted "Housing is healthcare and by helping residents stay in their homes and helping landlords make the income needed to keep the home or apartment safe for it's occupants safe and habitable, everybody wins".

Jane Ralph added "This will help shore up the local economy by maintaining cash flow and assisting local landlords who may not have the same level of resources available to them and it will help alleviate pressure on their tenants".

Chair of the Trust, Bill Cooke stated "Having these funds on hand allowed The Affordable Housing Trust Fund to respond quickly to this crisis".

If you have any further questions, call Construct at (413) 429-4340 or e mail Bill Cooke at this address: bcooke@townofgb.org

(The following information was obtained by WSBS via a press release that was sent by Construct Inc and The Town of Great Barrington for on-air and on-line usage)