Ask Governor Cooper to Enact an Eviction Moratorium and Support More Housing Funding for Those Affected by Hurricane Helene
We were already experiencing a housing shortage across our region before the devastation of Helene. Now, there are even fewer options for residents in need of housing because so many homes have been lost or damaged during the storm. Housing takes a long time to build, but as we have just witnessed, can be lost in only moments. The last thing our communities need right now is more displaced families searching for homes that don’t exist.
Yet, given the number of people who are unable to work or who have faced reduced income due to the impacts of the storm, we know many individuals and families will not be able to pay their rent this month. If those families are able to be evicted, our communities will be facing even more losses and our service organizations will be further strained trying to re-home more people. That is why we are joining our housing partners across the state in asking the Governor of North Carolina to put a moratorium on evictions immediately and include more funding for rental assistance in the next relief package.
It is critical that we create backstops to keep people in stable housing while our community does the long-term work of rebuilding. We cannot handle additional losses and increased displacement while we work to recover. We hope you will join us and tell the Governor how important it is to prevent evictions and increase rental assistance for our families, friends, and neighbors.