Tucson City Councilmember Paul Cunningham proposed a new program that would help people living in shelters — who may not qualify for a traditional lease due to previous evictions or bad credit — transition to permanent housing.

Through the program, the city would offer up to $2,500 to qualified tenants for move-in costs such as security deposits, first and last month’s rent and renters insurance. Landlords would also get up to $2,500 if the tenant doesn’t fulfill the terms of the lease, or if they damage a unit.

Cunningham said he’s met many people while out with the city’s homeless outreach teams who have gotten sober and have jobs, but still live in shelters because they don’t have enough money for a security deposit, or can’t pass a credit or background check for a traditional lease.

“If you’re working for 15 bucks an hour, 30 hours a week, living in shelter ain’t easy,” Cunningham said at the City Council meeting Tuesday. “If you’re just trying to survive, it ain’t easy. But you’re trying, and no one’s saying to you, ‘Oh, we got your back.’”

At Tuesday’s meeting, members of the Council voted unanimously to move forward with exploring the feasibility of the program, which Cunningham is calling the Housing Alternative for Urban Strength, or HAUS. The Council will revisit the program in 90 days.

Through HAUS, tenants would be responsible for paying rent for the unit, which would be priced at an affordable rate determined by the city and the landlord, and rent-stabilized. The city would help negotiate with local utilities to provide affordable Internet and water service, and tenants would be required to take a class on tenant responsibility and financial literacy.

Cunningham proposed starting the HAUS pilot program with 40 tenants for a total cost to the city of around $100,000.

Mayor Regina Romero said Tuesday she was open to exploring the idea, but added that the city needed to do more research to determine where the funding would come from and if the program was legally sound.

Councilmember Karin Uhlich said she liked the program because it leveraged existing inventory instead of relying on building new affordable housing, which developers might oppose should the country enter an economic downturn.

“We shouldn’t have a vacancy rate, given the housing crisis that we have,” Uhlich said.

Maricopa County operates a similar initiative called the Threshold Program, which offers support and funds to people transitioning out of homelessness and incentives to landlords.

“Sometimes all we’re asking is, ‘Hey, take a chance on people,’” Cunningham said.