Neighbor to Neighbor Helping Homeowners Impacted by Covid-19

Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program Now Available to Colorado Homeowners

Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N), a local nonprofit providing housing stability services in Larimer County for over 50 years, is one of four state agencies chosen to assist Colorado homeowners directly impacted by COVID-19 with mortgage payment assistance through the Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (EMAP). Established by the Division of Housing EMAP, this pilot program will disburse the initial 10% of the state’s allocation of the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF). Overall, the EMAP program has $17.5 million available to disburse to eligible applicants by September 30, 2025.

As part of the American Rescue Plan, Colorado has received $175,080,858 to address housing stability needs throughout the state. At the local level, this aid in combination with other funding and donations has enabled N2N to prevent over 6,000 evictions, assist over 400 households with move-in costs to achieve stable rental housing, and provide emergency utility assistance to over 600 households in Larimer County during the pandemic. The ability to quickly adapt and scale services to meet the exponential rise in demand has earned N2N recognition as a top Emergency Rent Assistance program in the state. As a result of the growing housing assistance needs, N2N recently hired an additional homeownership advisor to assist with processing EMAP requests for Larimer County and the surrounding counties.

N2N’s Executive Director Kelly Evans explains, “When we help families stay in their homes, the ripple effect of a stable home goes on and on. We find that kids do better in school, family relationships and overall health improve, and employment outcomes are better. These lasting impacts benefit not just one family, but the community as a whole.”

The EMAP application process opened in November 2021. Homeowners are eligible to receive HAF funding if they experienced financial hardship after January 21, 2020, or had a financial hardship that began before January 21, 2020, and continued after January 21, 2020. Eligible households must have an income equal to less than 100% of the area median income for this initial allocation. These funds may only be used for the homeowner’s primary dwelling and approved funds are paid directly to the homeowner’s mortgage servicer. Eligibility and enrollment information can be found online at cdola.colorado.gov/emergency-mortgage-assistance. Additional information about foreclosure prevention (and to apply online) for EMAP is available on N2N’s website at n2n.org.

Since 1970, Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) has been helping individuals and families wherever they are on the housing continuum – from homelessness to homeownership. N2N is the lead provider of homelessness and eviction prevention in Northern Colorado, distributing over $15 million in emergency assistance to help stabilize 7,000 households during the pandemic.  Over 90% of households served by N2N report continued stable housing six months after assistance. To learn more, visit n2n.org or call 970.484.7498.