Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Millions'Żof Renters in US Face Eviction'ŻAmid COVID-19 Pandemic

Julie Taboh

   WASHINGTON/KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI -- For Ashley Johnson, a national
   housing group's warning that millions of people faced risk of eviction
   from their homes by the end of the year -- a direct result of the
   economic slowdown and massive job losses caused by the coronavirus
   outbreak -- became reality.
   Johnson, a young mother of three who lives in the Midwestern city of
   Kansas City, Missouri, was evicted in September.
   "Mentally I'm an emotional wreck," Johnson said quietly as her children
   watched television in a nearby room. "I recently had to reach out to
   getting some counseling '¦ 'cause I can kind of feel myself slipping a
   little."
   In August, the [1]National Low Income Housing Coalition announced that
   30-40 million Americans would face eviction in the coming months. The
   NLIHC is a group that focuses on low-income housing policy and trends
   and analyzes data to create a forecast for the needs of low-income
   housing across the U.S.
   Around the same time as the NLIHC report, a federal supplement to state
   unemployment benefits that was providing financial relief to millions
   under an economic stimulus package ended in July. And a temporary ban
   on evictions ordered Sept. 1 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
   and Prevention (CDC) came too late for people like Johnson.
   Lost side jobs
   Johnson, who holds a desk job, lost crucial income from her side
   business the virus hit her hometown of Kansas City, she said during an
   interview with VOA in September.
   She said she was a holistic health and wellness coach and drove a cab
   to help her family stay afloat, "but because of COVID, I don't have
   these clients no more and so I only have my desk job to rely on."
   Johnson was evicted in early September from a private transitional
   house where she lived with her three children.
   "This pandemic and the shutdown have been no picnic for me and my
   children," she said.
   Johnson participates in rallies for KC Tenants, a group advocating for
   affordable housing in Kansas City.
   Like most of the country, the state of Missouri was already
   experiencing an affordable housing crisis when the pandemic hit.
   In early September, organization director Tara Raghuveer told VOA that
   almost 50% of renters in the state were at risk of eviction because
   they couldn't pay their rent.
   "In the absence of a vaccine, housing was the prescription. We were all
   told to stay home to keep ourselves healthy and to keep our neighbors
   healthy, but for millions of people across this country that was never
   an option, either because they didn't have a home to begin with,
   because they were housing insecure, or because their home itself was
   unhealthy to them," Raghuveer said.

References

   1. https://nlihc.org/

.