Riverside program will help seniors pay rent

Riverside has adopted a pilot program designed to help the city’s senior citizens pay their rent.

The Supplemental Rental Assistance Program for Seniors, approved unanimously by the city council April 23, will provide residents ages 70 years old and older up to $600 of supplemental rental assistance payments, according to a statement on the city’s website.

The payments, which can last for one year, will be made while the recipient is waiting for a Section 8 voucher or for affordable housing to come available. Funding from the American Rescue Plan Act will pay for the $900,000 program.

Section 8 is the federal government’s major program for very low-income residents to find affordable housing.

“The difference between staying housed and becoming homeless can be a few hundred dollars a month for our seniors, and this program is designed to fill that gap,” council member Steve Hemenway said in the statement. “This is an opportunity to bring hope to some of our residents who really need it.”