From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
NOTE: The CDC has extended the moratorium for two months, but more must be done. This action calls for all the things that need to be done.
“I vividly remember coming home as a child to find my family’s belongings on the lawn. Evictions leave lifelong scars.” – Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro
Lifelong scars are what await children and families across the country if we don’t take immediate action. The eviction moratorium that was protecting millions of families from homelessness was lifted yesterday and now rent (and back rent) is due. This is happening even as billions of dollars in relief funds earmarked for renters and rental assistance remain undistributed by state and local governments. And all this is happening as cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant quickly rise. [1,2]
Families need more time for states to disburse renter relief funds to pay back rent.
**Add your name at https://action.momsrising.org/sign/extend-eviction-moratorium to tell Congress and the White House to take immediate action to extend the federal eviction moratorium!
According to the National Low Income Housing Association, “6.5 million renter households remain behind on rent and at heightened risk of losing both their homes and their ability to stay safe during the pandemic” if the eviction moratorium isn’t extended.
Why now? Because families are still waiting on critical federal renter relief that still hasn’t been disbursed in states.
Including states like Florida which is currently seeing a historic increase in COVID-19 cases with 21,683 new cases reported just last Saturday. To date, Florida has only been able to disburse 2% of the millions in renter and landlord federal relief dollars it received to make sure vulnerable families aren’t pushed into homelessness. [3] In fact, only $3 billion of the $46 billion in emergency rental relief passed by Congress has been spent across all states. [4]
Let’s make something clear here. Families are trying their best to weather this storm and shouldn’t have to pay the price of delayed relief funding and a pandemic that continues to impact our communities. These are factors that families have no control over. Especially our moms and moms of color who are experiencing increased economic instability. In fact, one Harvard study recently reported by The New Republic found that mothers are more likely to be targeted for evictions and that “having children is the single greatest predictor of if someone will face eviction”. [5]
There isn’t a second to waste. The longer we wait the longer families are at risk of eviction. We need Congress and White House officials to hear us right away. Help get as many signatures as possible before we deliver them tomorrow by forwarding this email to your friends and family ASAP.
Together we can help make sure children and families aren’t forced out of their homes.
References:
[1] The rent is now due, America, CNN, Aug 1, 2021 [2] Immediate action needed at federal, state and local levels to keep renters safe, National Low Income Housing Association, Jul 30, 2021 [3] Florida has disbursed 2 percent of rent aid as eviction moratorium ending, Tampa Bay Times, Jul 30, 2021 [4] Immediate action needed at federal, state and local levels to keep renters safe, National Low Income Housing Association, Jul 30, 2021 [5] Why Landlords Target Mothers for Eviction, The New Republic, March 16, 2021
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