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Residents struggle to pay rent

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Billy Bob Grahn

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Marc Perry

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Jennifer Petruzzello

Local service providers face two challenges when it comes to helping renters struggling in today's economy: Getting them immediate assistance and helping them become self-sufficient.

They hope to address both with strategies discussed Tuesday at the South Central Wisconsin Chapter of the American Red Cross.

As unemployment rises, many are struggling to pay for housing and energy, officials said.

Representatives from the Red Cross, ECHO, Rock County and other organizations—many of them members of the Rock County Homeless Intervention Task Force—met Tuesday to discuss a community response to the growing problem.

Recently, landlord Billy Kesselring nearly lost power to 14 Rock County properties because of unpaid energy bills. He said he couldn't pay because his tenants aren't paying rent.

Kesselring reached a payment plan with Alliant, but his problem highlighted a community need, said Marc Perry, Community Action director of planning and development.

Perry heard Friday from another landlord who is behind on utilities for his four-unit building because tenants aren't paying rent, he said.

Alliant Energy sent out 8,000 notices to disconnect in Rock County after the moratorium on shutting off power ended April 15, Perry said.

"This is not just an isolated incident," said Billy Bob Grahn, Rock County Board supervisor and director of the Red Road House shelter.

The most pressing problem is keeping people off the street, officials said. They agreed to lobby Janesville and Beloit for community development block grant money for rent assistance.

Janesville is expecting $145,000 in block grants from the federal stimulus, but it doesn't know how the money can be used, said Jennifer Petruzzello, city neighborhood services director. It hopes to receive federal guidance any day, she said.

Normally, the city can use up to 15 percent of block grants on public service projects, which would be about $22,000 in this case, Petruzzello said.

"We don't know if (the federal government is) going to apply the same criteria to the stimulus money yet or not," she said.

Officials also want to make sure assistance is used responsibly and coupled with education. Some at Tuesday's meeting suggested assistance be tied to renter or financial literacy classes.

"If we just throw money at the problem, it's just going to happen again next year," said Sarah Williams, executive director of Edgerton Community Outreach.

Organizations should make sure clients know how to make smart choices and make rent and utility payments top priorities, she said.

But not everyone in need is financially irresponsible, officials said. Many are searching for jobs and have little or no source of income, they said.

"We have an emergency here," said Heidi Wegleitner, attorney with Legal Action of Wisconsin. "It's not just that folks don't want to pay. In many cases, they do."

The important thing is to get people the help they need now, no matter how they got in this situation, Perry said. Then agencies can help people make sure they're not in the same situation later.

"We need to send the message that we are asking people to be fiscally responsible and that we are being fiscally responsible," he said.