On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Salinas City Council unanimously approved over $750,000 for a pilot rental assistance program. The program will aid Salinas residents with three months of rent or up to $9,000.
“It is an eviction prevention initiative,” Kayshla Lopez, Salinas’ homeless services manager, told council. “It is a cross collaboration with the Monterey County Office of Education aimed at strengthening homelessness prevention efforts within our community.”
In total, the city will have $1 million available for rental assistance. It will be financed with $500,000 from the general fund (money the council set aside last fiscal year after the council rejected four housing-related ordinances including rent stabilization) and $500,000 from family homelessness challenge grant funds from California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Additionally, MCOE will distribute $250,000 among residents who have school-aged children. (MCOE had a similar program but it ran out of funds.)
The goal of the pilot Rental Assistance Program, or RAP, is to prevent displacement and homelessness among Salinas residents. The program will run until June of 2026, or once funds are exhausted.
RAP is modeled after previous rental assistance programs the the Salinas Outreach and Response Team administered from December 2024 to February 2025.
The program is on a first-come first-serve basis for one-time assistance. Eligibility for relief includes a valid 12-month lease, a three-day notice to pay or quit, earning 120 percent or less of the area median income, and being no more than three months behind in rent. Families with mixed immigration status could be eligible for assistance.
City housing officials estimate the pilot RAP could aid 111 households.