Richmond pauses water crisis recovery fund after over 2,000 applications
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Richmond paused applications for its water crisis recovery fund at around 11:30am Monday morning saying it "expects" that 100% of the money is fully committed.
Catch up quick: The city reopened the fund, which was first established in 2020 to help locals in need during the pandemic, on Friday around 10am with $650,000. It got more than 2,200 applications before the pause, per a news release.
- Applications were eligible for up to $2,500 each for expenses like rent, childcare and utility bills if they could demonstrate they were financially affected by the water crisis.
What's next: In a statement, Mayor Avula said his administration is exploring options to expand support for the Family Crisis Fund to help locals in future crises.
- Richmond is now working to verify applicant eligibility. Applicants should expect to hear back in 10-15 business days. The city had previously said it would take 3-5 business days.
The big picture: Contributions toward the fund can still be made to the United Way of Greater Richmond.
Zoom in: To quality for water recovery funds, applicants had to:
- Be a City of Richmond resident
- Demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the recent water outage
- Have a balance due (or overdue) for an eligible expense, which includes:
- Rent or mortgage payments
- Utility bills
- Healthcare expenses
- Childcare costs
- Car loan payments
Of note: The fund pays the bill directly to the service provider or biller.
How it works: Locals who've received money through the Family Crisis Fund in the last year were eligible for up to $800. Those who hadn't were eligible for the max of up to $2,500.
Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect that the city paused the fund.