Social Development Commission continues struggle to keep up with deluge of applicants for emergency rental assistance program | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
PrincessSafiya Byers
July 7, 2020
The Social Development Commission is combing through a list of 24,000 names of people seeking emergency rental aid. (Photo by Adam Carr)
A backlog of at least 24,000 applicants for emergency rental assistance has left the Social Development Commission, or SDC, scrambling to help residents in dire straits.
The SDC received $6.7 million to assist residents of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, and Washington counties through the Wisconsin Rent Assistance Program, or WRAP. The funds were provided as part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act package.
So far, the SDC has approved 154 people for aid and given out $260,096 through the WRAP program, officials say.
Last week we wrote about what you need to know about the WRAP program.  This week, we circled back with  Kim Dawson-Brooks, the agency’s marketing and communications specialist, and Elmer Moore, SDC board chairman, to get the latest information.
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: Since June 8, SDC has approved 154 people for aid and given out $260,096 through the WRAP program. SDC has denied 113 people aid, and staff are currently processing 195 applications.
Most of the people inquiring about the WRAP program live in Milwaukee County. About 97% are from Milwaukee County and the rest live in Ozaukee or Washington counties.
: There was an overwhelming interest in the program. We are doing our best to keep up with the high demand. We are not the only agency providing rent assistance, so a part of the process is ensuring that we are not giving aid to someone who has received it elsewhere.
Once all information is in and someone is approved, they should receive aid in 10 days or less.
: There are currently seven employees working the WRAP program. SDC is in the process of hiring eight more.The SDClost five employees who were from temp agencies over the last week.
Each WRAP employee contacts 25 new applicants a day and follows up with 15 applicants in the process a day.  Each of the seven staff members talks to around 200 people a week. SDC reaches out to a little over 1,000 people a week for the WRAP program.
Worried about being able to pay rent? Here are some resources to help.