City quietly suspends program to help lower-income Richmonders with housing costs
Butterfly Heart was one of the few Richmond residents who seemed to successfully navigate the city’s new Gap Grant program offering financial aid for housing costs. She got far enough she was told the city would help cover her $1,479 monthly rent payment for December.
December arrived, but the rent money never did.
“The first went by. Second went by. And I was nervous because by the fifth, I’m late,” said Heart, who lives in an apartment in Manchester. “And I’m going to have to pay a late fee on the sixth.”
After officials told her the check had ended up in Texas due to a mailing mishap with her application, Heart, who relies on disability benefits, paid her own rent for December and waited for the city to resolve the issue.
After more back-and-forth without much progress, Heart pulled up the city’s RVA 311 customer service website to see if there had been any updates on her case. Instead, she saw a note posted on the site saying the $3.9 million Gap Grant program had been “temporarily suspended” as of Jan. 1.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Heart said. “The unprofessionalism, the unanswered questions, and now the program is suspended without even a letter?”
The city appeared to pull down a web page that previously explained how Richmond residents could apply for the program, which offered one-time grants of up to $1,200 paid directly to recipients landlords’ or mortgage lenders. The website now returns an error message, with no information about the program’s status.
When asked for an update, city officials told The Richmonder there’s no intention to drop the program entirely. They couldn’t say how long the suspension might last, but said the pause is meant to give officials time to rework and improve the program. Though no new applications are being accepted after Dec. 31, officials say they expect money to still go out to approved recipients while the program is suspended.
“The Department of Finance temporarily paused the program to reevaluate current processes and determine how best to move forward with the administration of the program, with the goal being to revamp the system in a way which expedites review and gets payment to recipients quicker,” said city spokesperson Michael Hinkle.
Officials are working through a backlog of 1,200 unprocessed applications received by the end of the year, Hinkle said. That’s an increase from the 975-application backlog officials reported in October.
The City Council approved the Gap Grant program in late 2024 at the recommendation of former Mayor Levar Stoney. It was part of a package of targeted housing aid initiatives pitched as an alternative to lowering real estate taxes.
Graham Moomaw
Both Stoney and Mayor Danny Avula have said they prefer giving financial help only to those who truly need it instead of approving an across-the-board tax reduction that would also benefit the city’s wealthiest homeowners and corporate owners of high-value properties.
To qualify for the Gap Grant money, applicants must fall below income thresholds for the Richmond metropolitan area as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For a single person, the income threshold is $61,800. For a family of four, it’s $88,250.
By setting up a finer-tuned program only available to residents who meet certain criteria and file the paperwork to prove it, officials created a new bureaucratic process the city was unequipped to handle.
The Finance Department previously said it brought in three part-time staffers to help work on the unprocessed Gap Grant applications.
The Gap Grant ordinance took effect at the beginning of 2025. With a full year to implement the process and get the money out, the city distributed less than 10% of the available funds before suspending the program.
Graham Moomaw
According to the city, about $300,000 of the $3.9 million in surplus funds allocated to the program has been paid out to help cover residents’ housing costs.
Heart said that when she first heard about the program, it sounded perfect for her. As someone on disability, she said, “I could use a little bit of help.”
In response to questions from The Richmonder, the city said that it has voided the original check, and will notify her when a reissued check is ready.
As she continues to wait, she’s already paid her January rent too. At this point, she said, she just wants to know if the city is still planning on helping her or not.
“Christmas went by. New Year’s Eve went by. And I am like there is no way that this is really happening,” Heart said. “Did they change their mind? Did my application get denied for some reason? Can somebody just tell me what’s going on?”
Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org
