‘Families are really struggling.’ Local rent assistance program can’t keep up with demand
Tessa Frazier, a 23-year-old mother, faced the prospect of being evicted from her west Olympia home last year. By December, she was three months behind on rent and her partner had just been injured in a car accident.
“I went from some childcare to no childcare,” Frazier said. “He also needed a home care aide that we didn’t qualify for, so I had to stay home and take care of him and my son.”
Before the accident happened, she had applied for a rent assistance program at Community Youth Services, a local nonprofit that helps youth and young adults. However, her coordinator warned her she may not be approved until the summer.
Luckily for Frazier and her family, she got accepted soon after her partner’s accident. The program paid the three months of past due rent for their then-$1,254-a-month, two-bedroom home as well as six months going forward.
Frazier got the help she needed, but that’s not a guaranteed outcome for everyone. Rent assistance has become increasingly difficult to access in Thurston County over the past several years due to limited funding.
“The need is greater than what the funds are right now,” said CYS Chief Executive Officer Derek Harris.
In its current form, the county’s Eviction Prevention Rent Assistance program has orders of magnitude less money than older programs that were funded by state and federal COVID-19 relief money.
Less money means the nonprofits that implement the program have to prioritize eligible applicants based on need.
Trish Gregory, executive director of Family Support Center of South Sound (FSCSS), said she has not seen a decrease in demand since the height of the pandemic.
“Anecdotally, I would say it continues to increase with rent prices rising,” Gregory said. “Families are really struggling to afford all their normal living costs.”
How does the EPRA program work?
The county’s EPRA program started in 2023 with three non-profit partners. CYS serves youth and young adults ages 18-24, while FSCSS works with families with children and survivors of domestic violence.
A third provider, Partners in Prevention Education (PiPE), had been serving single adults, but the county cut ties with PiPE last month following invoicing challenges.
To be eligible for the EPRA program, households must be behind on rent, at risk of homelessness and earn at or below 80% of Thurston County’s area median income, which is estimated at about $94,000 this year. The 80% level is about $75,000.
When open, applicants have to apply through the nonprofit that serves their relevant population.
Each applicant has to go through a screening process. If accepted, the program pays landlords directly for past due rent and possibly future rent to give renters time to stabilize their financial situation. Participants also are required to participate in housing stability planning with a case manager.
From fiscal years 2023-2025, the county’s Public Health and Social Services department received just shy of $3.8 million from the Washington State Department of Commerce for the EPRA program.
From 2020-2023, the county’s rent assistance programs distributed $53.6 million, according to county documents.
The current program has served 356 households, which includes 880 people, PHSS spokesperson Renae Miller shared. The average payment is $4,621, she added.
In contrast, the county’s COVID-19 rent assistance programs served 7,376 households with an average payment of $7,270. Each household had an average of 2.5 people.
The county expects to receive about $1 million per year for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, Miller said.
Renters say they feel cost burdened
Frazier first reached out to CYS in July for help with financial planning after experiencing some bad luck.
“My car had been stolen and I had to pay a $4,000 impound fee,” Frazier said.
Her job had cut her hours after she changed her schedule to take care of her son, so she applied for rent assistance. Then her partner’s accident happened on Dec. 13.
“It broke six of his bones, like his femur and two in his arm,” Frazier said. “It was this horrific car accident. … We were just repetitively behind on all our bills.”
The rent assistance was a welcome reprieve that allowed her to take care of her 2-year-old son and her injured partner.
But the CYS coordinator for the EPRA program didn’t just stop there. She created a housing stability plan for Frazier and connected her to other resources.
“It’s not just the rent subsidy, it’s creating a plan, pathway and connections to other community referrals and resources, so that hopefully, at the end of this service, their instability has been solved, or it’s closer to have been solved,” Harris said.
For example, Frazier said the coordinator helped her acquire a car seat for her son and set her on a path to become a certified nursing assistant. She now hopes to eventually become a registered nurse.
While she may be in a better position, Frazier said she still feels cost burdened in the current economy. Aside from rent, she said she’s felt the pinch of inflation in her car insurance costs, energy bills and grocery store trips.
“We’re doing all that we can,” Frazier said. “We’re not buying the name brand. We’re not buying the $7 iced coffee when we go out. It’s not the small purchases that are keeping us down.”
Frazier said most people she knows are working hard but are struggling with high bills, unpredictable costs and individual challenges.
“For me, it’s not just equality, its equity,” Frazier said. “Someone may need a higher stool to have the same view. Especially when you’re talking about basic needs, I don’t see such a big problem with giving that person a step up.”
The EPRA program also helped Cait, a 28-year-old Lacey resident, avoid eviction. Cait asked to be identified by a partial name to protect her family’s privacy.
She said her troubles began after moving to the area and giving birth to a son in the summer of 2023. She and her partner hoped to use the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave program but it turned out only one of them was eligible.
“That kind of put things in a pickle,” Cait said. “The expected income that we had coming in was significantly less than what we were expecting.”
In November 2023, Cait got a job working at Family Support Center of South Sound and applied for rent assistance through the nonprofit.
“That was right after I had my son,” Cait said. “I was essentially playing catch up for rent and trying to keep us out of the eviction status. That was difficult.”
She was placed on a wait list and only got accepted last June. At that point, they owed about $4,000 in past due rent and late fees for their two-bedroom apartment. The program helped her get caught up and her supervisor helped her improve her resume.
She left FSCSS in November. Now she’s going to school to earn a master’s degree in social work while still working as a certified nursing assistant.
Working at FSCSS and needing assistance herself showed her how precarious life may be for many people.
“We’re all one paycheck or one crisis away from everything pulling apart because of our economy,” Cait said.
Why did Thurston County cut ties with PiPE?
Partners in Prevention Education served single adult applicants for rent assistance up until April 30 when it shuttered its program and laid off staff, former Housing Program Manager Emily Perez told The Olympian.
“Speaking personally, this has been an incredibly painful experience,” Perez said. “The EPRA staff were not treated fairly or respectfully, and many of us feel gaslit, manipulated and used by the most recent PiPE board.
“Despite that, we worked hard, often unpaid, to ensure that participants didn’t fall through the cracks. If PiPE had centered integrity and transparency, I believe the outcome could have been different.”
The county removed mention of PiPE from its EPRA webpage in early May, about two months before their contract was slated to end. As of Wednesday, the webpage lists the county’s Office of Housing and Homeless Prevention in its place.
“PIPE is no longer operating Eviction Prevention Rent Assistance,” the webpage reads. “Thank you to PIPE for their service to the Thurston County community.”
PiPE leadership has not responded to repeated requests for comment. An automatic email response from PiPE states the non-profit no longer has EPRA funds.
In a Friday statement to The Olympian, PHSS spokesperson Renae Miller said PiPE’s interim executive director departed in February, prompting PHSS and PiPE to discuss next steps.
“Based on these discussions, it was mutually determined that due to organizational capacity (not enough PiPE staff to process invoices and payments in a timely manner), PiPE would be unable to fulfill the work under these contracts,” she wrote.
“Up to that point, PHSS staff had been providing increased technical assistance and support to PiPE. The decision to end the contract two months before the original end date was mutual and positive.”
Perez said PiPE faced consistent issues related to invoicing the county for the program. These issues, she said, were caused by a lack of organizational infrastructure and unstable leadership.
“Staff were often left without clear direction, and financial systems were not streamlined,” she said.
Who will serve single adults going forward?
Miller said the county will directly serve active EPRA participants who were enrolled with PiPE prior to April 30 until a new EPRA provider can transition into the role for the 2025-2026 program year.
“The positive work of the EPRA program continues to support 32 households in need in our community,” Miller said. “PiPE was serving fewer than 11 of these 32.”
It remains to be seen what organization will become the new EPRA provider for single adults.
During an April 23 meeting, Tom Webster, manager of the county’s Office of Housing and Homeless Prevention Program, informed the board that the Regional Housing Council recommended awarding funds for homeless services to Community Action Council of Lewis, Mason and Thurston Counties.
The funding awards included $328,000 in EPRA funds to serve single adults, seniors and veterans, according to county documents.
Additionally, the RHC recommended awarding CACLMT $72,700 to support individuals facing housing and financial instability as well as $5,000 for diversity, equity and inclusion training and support.
However, county commissioners expressed reservations about doing business with CACLMT in light of past conflict with the nonprofit. Instead, the commissioners are asking the RHC to reconsider its recommendation before funding is expected to be approved June.
“This is deep in our hearts,” Commissioner and Board Chair Tye Menser said to his seatmates. “We’re scarred from this.”
Webster said CACLMT and PiPE were the only two organizations that applied to serve single adults for the county’s EPRA program. That means there’s currently no other organizations for the county to choose.
The county contracted CACLMT to disperse rental and utility assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the county suspended the contract in 2022 after an internal auditor identified several instances of suspected fraud.
The county ultimately identified dozens more cases of suspected fraud that they reported to the Treasury Office of Inspector General and law enforcement, as required by program rules. In response, the federal government requested the county return up to $667,990.
So far, the county has repaid a total of $325,995, PHSS spokesperson Renae Miller said in an emailed statement.
Of that total, Miller said $225,845.49 was repaid to the Washington State Department of Commerce and $100,150 was repaid to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. She added the county last paid the state $74,160 in January.
“Thurston County has submitted a letter to Treasury indicating that it has used local funds to offset the remaining balance of eligible costs of $341,994 and anticipates that it will not be required to repay these funds,” Miller said.
In December, Clerk of the Board Amy Davis told The Olympian the payments have impacted the county’s general fund and the county hoped CACLMT would repay the county.
CACLMT responds to the county’s hesitancy
Justin DeFour, the Community Action Council’s executive director, responded to the county commissioners’ concerns in a statement to The Olympian.
“CAC leadership understands why county commissioners might be hesitant in moving forward with new contracts with our organization while this matter remains unresolved, but it is important to remember that the goal of these contracts is to provide vital services to members of our community,” DeFour said.
He said CACLMT has transitioned to an entirely different leadership team since its conflict with the county started. Additionally, the nonprofit has made improvements to its internal practices, implemented multi-tiered checks and balances, now conducts regular self-audits and instituted new training.
“CAC will continue to demonstrate the improvements made to our business practices in hopes of regaining the trust needed to rebuild our strong relationship with Thurston County,” DeFour said.
When asked whether CACLMT will repay the county, DeFour said there had been no formal negotiations as of May 2.
He said the county notified the nonprofit that it wanted $251,835 on Aug. 8, 2024, and the nonprofit’s leadership immediately began working with their insurance carrier as required by their contract provisions.
“These funds were disbursed under federal emergency rules that allowed self-attestation; requirements that ultimately contributed to this,” DeFour said. “Being asked to repay these funds now, years later, threatens our financial stability and jeopardizes essential services for Thurston County residents.”
What can renters do if they need help?
Gregory said families who are not eligible or cannot access the EPRA program at Family Support Center of South Sound are still served by staff navigators who help connect them with other resources in the community.
“A lot of times, it really is identifying resources to help pay for other things, so that they have their own funds to pay for rent,” Gregory said. “There’s just not a whole lot of programs that provide that.”
This assistance can take the form of food, childcare, transportation, utility assistance, enrollment in benefits through the state and more, Gregory said.
Similarly, Harris said Community Youth Services staff still answer every request for assistance with the same level of support and care even when the EPRA program is temporarily closed.
“Even without providing direct rent assistance, our coordinator provides referrals for parenting support, state benefits, health insurance, GED programs, employment programs,” Harris said.
However, local resources typically provide hundreds of dollars rather than the many thousands that EPRA participants receive, Gregory said.
Families with children and survivors of domestic violence in need can contact Family Support Center for South Sound at rentassistance@fscss.org or at 360-754-9297.
Youth and young adults ages 18-24 can contact Community Youth Services at rentsupport@communityyouthservices.org or at 360-280-8114.
Adults without children under 18 can contact the Thurston County Office of Housing and Homeless Prevention at RentAssistance@co.thurston.wa.us.
Anyone who has received an eviction notice can contact the Eviction Defense Hotline at 1-855-657-8387 to be connected to an eviction attorney.
This story was originally published May 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
