Nearly 300,000 applicants have sought pandemic rent assistance so far through Illinois, Cook County and Chicago programs, and some officials say there is a need for more help.
Another round of rental assistance could be coming, officials said, after Congress approved additional funding in the American Rescue Plan in March. The next round would be in addition to several earlier rounds of mostly federally-funded rent relief offered by Chicago, Cook County and Illinois during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applications for rent assistance continued to come in to those programs as the pandemic eased and businesses began to reopen.
The number of applications indicates there is still a need for help, said Richard Monocchio, executive director of the Housing Authority of Cook County, which administers the county’s rent assistance program.
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