Volusia Cares RISE

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Volusia Cares RISE Program
(Resilience through Income, Stability and Essentials)

Volusia Cares RISE is a collaborative initiative, funded through the County of Volusia, to help households meet their basic needs today while building financial stability for the future. Through emergency rent and mortgage assistance combined with financial stability programming, including case management, household budgeting, and financial education, RISE supports households in crisis and empowers them to achieve long-term resilience.

Emergency Assistance Available. Up to $1,400 of direct assistance towards one month of past due rent or mortgage payment (not to exceed fair market rent)

Summary of Eligibility Criteria, Full Details Below

• Households may only receive assistance once every 365 days
• Must reside in Volusia County
• Household income must not exceed 200% of Poverty (2025)
• Rent or Mortgage must be past due at time of request for assistance
• There can be no pending legal eviction or foreclosure process
• Landlord or mortgage company must agree to participate
• The housing must not already be subsidized (such as public housing or section 8)
• The household must document a recent and unexpected hardship

At this time, we are not accepting applications for assistance. Once the program reopens, prescreening surveys will be accepted Monday mornings at 8:00 AM (excluding holidays).

Please Note: RISE applications will only be accepted online. We are unable to complete or assist with any part of the application process by phone. If you have questions, please do not call our main office line, as our team there cannot assist with RISE-related inquiries. All information about the program is available below Thank you for your understanding!

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Program Details and Eligibility Criteria

LINC Me Platform

The Volusia Cares RISE program is utilizing a platform called LINC Me for communication and documentation collection. After you submit a pre-screening form, you will be invited to join the LINC Me Platform via email and text (email and phone number you provided in the pre-screening survey). The text invitation will come from 617-934-6298 and the email will come from no-reply@lincme.org (make sure you check your junk mail box).

You can download and use the LINC Me app or use your login to access the platform through any internet browser. Once you sign into LINC Me, click on messages for detailed instructions on how to submit your application and the required documentation. 

Required Documents

In order for your eligibility for assistance to be determined, you must provide all required documents for every household member. Failure to submit all required documents may lead to your assistance being delayed or denied.

All documents provided must be clear, legible and ideally in color. Multi-page documents such as leases must be uploaded in a .pdf format as one file. There are free apps available for your phone that can convert photographs to multi-page .pdf documents. Other documents, such as identification and birth certificates, can be uploaded as photograph/image files (.jpeg, .jpg, .png) as long as they are clear and legible.

Rent & Mortgage Program Eligibility Summary. PLEASE REVIEW CAREFULLY

• Proof of Past Due: You must provide documentation that your rent or mortgage payment is past due. This documentation must be something you received from your landlord or mortgage company. If you have a pending legal eviction or foreclosure, you are not eligible for assistance.
• Proof of Identity and Household Makeup: You must provide identification for all members of your household.
  • Social Security Card for all household members, adults and minors
  • AND
  • Adults: Driver’s License or State ID for all Adults in the household
  • Minors: Driver’s license, State ID, Birth Certificate or Immunization Record for all minors under age 18 in the household
• Proof of Residency: This program is only available for residents of Volusia County. The applicant’s Identification must include the current address, and that address must be in Volusia County. No exceptions.
• Rental Agreement: For rental assistance, you must provide a copy of a current (not expired) lease with all included pages that is signed and executed by all tenant(s) and the landlord. Note:  if your household already receives some form of ongoing government rental assistance (Section 8, TBRA, public housing, subsidized housing) you are not eligible for this program.
• Mortgage Statement: For mortgage assistance, you must provide the most recent full mortgage statement that shows a past due amount and includes all mortgage details, including the mortgage company and contact information.
• Household Income: Your annual gross household income, including all sources of income for all household members, must be below the 200% Federal Poverty Guidelines. Annual gross income is calculated based on the documentation provided for the last 30 days.
  • 1 Person Household: $31,300 Annual Income limit
  • 2 Person Household: $42,300 Annual Income limit
  • 3 Person Household: $53,300 Annual Income limit
  • 4 Person Household: $64,300 Annual Income limit
  • 5 Person Household: $75,300 Annual Income limit
  • 6 Person Household: $86,300 Annual Income limit
  • 7 Person Household: $97,300 Annual Income limit
  • 8 Person Household: $108,300 Annual Income limit

• Hardship: You must describe and document your recent and unexpected hardship that caused you to fall behind on rent or mortgage payments. You will be asked to provide documentation of your stated hardship.
• Landlord/Mortgage Company Cooperation:  If your landlord/mortgage company does not agree to accept payment through this program, you are not eligible for assistance.
• Limits on Assistance: The maximum amount of rent or mortgage assistance is up to $1,400 of direct assistance towards one month of rent/mortgage that is PAST DUE at the time of application based on the Fair Market Rent amounts noted below, REGARDLESS of the amount of your actual rent or mortgage payments. Only rent costs (for rental assistance) and principal/interest costs (for mortgage assistance) can be covered – no other late fees or charges can be covered by the assistance. The applicant must make arrangements with the landlord or mortgage company to cover all costs that are not covered by the assistance awarded.
  • Efficiency:  $1,178
  • One Bedroom:  $1,404
  • Two-Bedroom:  $1,718
  • Three-Bedroom:  $2,260
  • Four-Bedroom:  $2,424
• Frequency of Assistance: Applicants are only eligible for rent or mortgage assistance one time every 365 days. If you have received assistance from the County of Volusia in the last year, you are not eligible for assistance through this program.
• Appeal Process: If you feel that you have been unfairly denied assistance, click here to learn more about the appeal process. Please note that no eligibility requirement or documentation requirement can be waived under any circumstances.