BATON ROUGE - Officials in the capital city want to hear from members of the community who are having difficulty paying rent or securing a place to live due to the pandemic, and there is a new website where citizens can submit such information.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor's Office issued a Monday (March 8) news release in this regard, stating that residents who require housing assistance should complete and submit a 'needs assessment survey' to a new digital website, www.EBRemergencysolutions.com. This survey includes questions about each citizen's household and how they've been impacted by COVID-19.

The new EBR Emergency Solutions portal to which these surveys are submitted is designed to rapidly and efficiently prioritize how the City-Parish allocates resources currently received from the U.S. Treasury and anticipated resources connected to American Rescue Act.

The City of Baton Rouge received a direct initial allocation of $6.5 million from the U.S. Treasury to provide rental assistance needs in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and is set to receive another $22.5 million to accommodate the level of need on the Louisiana Emergency Rental Assistance Program waitlist in the parish.

Mayor-President Sharon Westin Broome said, “As federal resources continue to roll down to our community, it is important we determine the true needs so we can develop and expand partnerships and programs coordinated across multiple agencies to help residents get current on rent and ultimately keep people in their homes, as well as addressing other needs that contribute to basic quality of life.”

Broome continued, “Like many communities around the country, East Baton Rouge Parish is experiencing a public health emergency that continues to bring unexpected and difficult economic circumstances for many of our residents, through no fault of their own.”

Residents who submit a needs assessment will receive updates and announcements in the coming weeks with details about how qualified individuals can apply once the program launches on March 15th.

Mayor-President Broome will host a webinar for landlords on March 10th at 10:00am to provide information about the program. Landlords can register for the webinar at www.brla.gov/communitydevelopment.