Trouble Making Ends Meet? At risk of losing your home due to COVID-19?

If you think you might be eligible for RAFT or ERMA, download/complete the online application HERE

https://www.cognitoforms.com/CommunityTeamwork1/RAFTERMAApplicationCTI

Community Teamwork is pleased to offer new financial assistance programs for our families impacted by the recent Covid-19 pandemic and state of emergency. Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) and The Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance (ERMA) program funded by the Massachusetts Department of Housing & Community Development is able to provide assistance up to $10,000  of direct funding to eligible households.

ERMA can help to fund payments with rent or mortgage arrears accrued no earlier than April 1, 2020 or upcoming rent or mortgage payments.

In order to be eligible for ERMA, a household must:

· currently rent or own housing as a primary residence in Massachusetts

· have a gross household income that is between the 50% and 80% Area Median Income (AMI)

· have a housing emergency due to a financial hardship related to or exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis

RAFT/ERMA Maximum Annual Income Eligibility – Middlesex and Essex Counties

Annual Income Limits apply to the Merrimack Valley and include the following cities/towns: Amesbury, Andover, Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Merrimac, Methuen, Newburyport, No. Andover, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, West Newbury, Newburyport, Salisbury and Westford

Household Size	Annual income limit (80%AMI)
1	$54,950
2	$62,800
3	$70,650
4	$78,500
5	$84,800
6	$91,100
7	$97,350
8	$103,650

AMI Limits Worksheet

REQUIRED INCOME AND EXPENSE DOCUMENTS FOR RAFT

If you think you might be eligible for RAFT or ERMA, download/complete the application online HERE

Or copy and paste this into your browser:

https://www.cognitoforms.com/CommunityTeamwork1/RAFTERMAApplicationCTI

Watch this VIDEO Primer on RAFT and ERMA to find out your eligibility, how to apply and more

We are now live with our ZOOM FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SMART TENANT WORKSHOP. It’s runs 5 days a week: We are facilitating the English workshop Monday through Friday at noon and the Spanish workshop is twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday at 11am.

ENGLISH workshop link: https://zoom.us/j/95733574741

SPANISH workshop link: https://zoom.us/j/95172382635

To Learn more about Community Teamwork’s Housing Consumer Education Center (HCEC), one of nine across the Commonwealth, click HERE. 

COVID-19 Housing & Evictions Information

With the Massachusetts Statewide Eviction Moratorium that Gov. Baker passed in April of 2020 scheduled to end in October, there is a lot of uncertainty among many tenants around the Commonwealth. LTC spoke to representatives from Northeast Legal Aid and Community Teamwork, Inc. for more information about what tenants can do if they are worried about their ability to remain safely housed, and programs available to tenants and property owners to help them remain stable during the COVID-19 pandemic. WATCH HERE Video is posted to LTC’s Youtube Channel! It’s also playing on Channel 8 at LTC for the next two weeks (October 14, 2020)

Listen to Connie Martin, Division Director Energy and Community Resources and Kristin Ross-Sitcawich, Director of Homeless Prevention and Homeownership Program discuss the RAFT and ERMA programs available now to people in need of help with rent, mortgage payments and more –  WCAP Radio 9/29/2020

English DHCE ERMA/RAFT Flyer – Call 211

Spanish DHCD ERMA/RAFT Flyer

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