LA County Offers Housing Help To Cerritos And Artesia Residents

Residents at risk of losing their home can potentially benefit under the Los Angeles County's Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP).

The HPRP could help with living costs associated with housing, including back rent, rental assistance, security deposits and utility bills.

Linda Jenkins, manager for the Community Development Block Grant at the Community Development Commission of Los Angeles County, said the program has $12.1 million in funding for short-term assistance.

"It's very short assistance and it's to keep them on their feet and out of homelessness," she said. "The maximum length of assistance is 18 months, including payments in arrears. We can pay back rent up to six months, but we look at eligibility [for HPRP] every three months."

To qualify for the program, a candidate has to be in need due to an eviction or homelessness and cannot make more than 50 percent of the median income in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which depends on household size.

"We have to establish that unless the program wasn't there to help them, they would be homeless," she said.

Jenkins said that the HPRP serves unincorporated areas of Los Angeles and some contract cities, including Cerritos and Artesia. So far, according to Jenkins, 890 households have been helped by this program countywide.

The program is funded by stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and is a one-time funding project set to expire in June 2012.

To see if you qualify, visit the HPRP website for Los Angeles County.