Rental assistance approved for homeless families in La Crosse

A rental assistance program moves forward in La Crosse.

The city council, Thursday, unanimously approved sending $110,000 to the La Crosse Collaborative to End Homelessness.

It’s not a cash payout to those in need, says Julie McDermid, project manager for the group .

“It is a voucher that the tenant, the client receives and they can choose where they get to live,” she said. “We want to preserve that as much as possible so that whatever housing situation that they end up in is sustainable for them.

“Hopefully it gets to be in the community near a school, employment, health care services that they’re that they’re already connected to.”

A grant covers $50,000 of assistance from the city. The rest is leftover money from last year’s budget.

McDermid says the assistance is available from up to 18-24 months. Recipients of the vouchers have to contribute 30 percent of their income towards rent.