Emergency rental assistance funds are helping Connecticut residents maintain housing thanks to a successful launch of the UniteCT program. UniteCT is administered by the State of Connecticut Department of Housing and runs on technology from Yardi called Rent Relief. UniteCT is funded by $420 million in grants for rent and electricity payments for households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifteen state, county and city government agencies use Rent Relief to administer more than $1 billion in emergency rental assistance funds. Over 158,000 users are registered on Rent Relief and have completed more than 57,000 applications. With Yardi Rent Relief, UniteCT accepts applications for assistance from residents and landlords using an online portal that is accessible from computers and mobile devices. The flexibility of Rent Relief paired with the efforts of the UniteCT team delivers assistance in areas that would have been otherwise been underserved. ”The UniteCT bus is an exciting new solution to combat the digital divide in communities who need additional support with technology. We are reimagining the rent relief application process by going to the individual and setting the precedent for other programs to come,” said Marina Marmolejo, program manager. (Bus pictured at right.) The success of Rent Relief’s implementation of UniteCT can be measured by how fast Yardi launched the online application portals and how quickly case review team members became trained to begin vetting fully submitted applications. Other signs of success include how many applicants have used Rent Relief thus far without major interruptions in service. Users created more than 10,000 accounts within the first few days of the applicant portal going live. “We continue to do a lot of multi-media outreach including radio, newspaper articles and social media.  We have created sixteen UniteCT Resource Centers throughout the state to...