Starting Thursday, tenants affected by the pandemic can apply for a one-time rent relief program.

The state is now accepting applications for the COVID Rent Relief Program, which is designed for those with the greatest need who could face homelessness

Selected tenants will never actually see the money because the one-time subsidy that could cover the last four months of rent would go directly to their landlord.

Applicants will have to meet certain criteria to be eligible. They must have lost income during the pandemic as well as struggling to pay before March 1.

Their household income must have been below 80% of the area median income, and applicants must have been paying more than 30% of gross monthly income toward rent.

The rental assistance payment will cover the difference between the household's rent burden on March 1, 2020, and the increase in rent burden for the months the household is applying for assistance.

Renters are asked to fill out applications as soon as possible, as the deadline is July 31. Those trying to apply are already saying they are having trouble uploading the necessary documents.

The state set aside $100 million from federal coronavirus relief for the program, but officials don't think that will be enough and are hoping for additional funds.

The Health and Welfare Council of Long Island has been inundated with calls from people in need of help and assistance since the pandemic started.

They are reaching out to nonprofits they work with to make sure clients in need apply before the deadline.

"We want to make sure that people understand that this is a narrow opportunity. It doesn't apply to people who get Section 8, it doesn't apply to people who weren't really rent-burdened before— with 30% or more of a rent burden," said Rebecca Sanin, the president of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island.

They are hoping more programs will be made available for Long Islanders who are finding it hard to not only pay rent, but also to put food on the table.

"We are a region with pockets of wealth, not pockets of poverty, and we are a region that has poverty in every community, and what we are seeing now is people in crisis," she added.