Averting Catastrophe

Eviction Prevention Collaboration Alleviating Pandemic-induced Housing Plight

By Joy Brown

Hope House personnel are accustomed to empathetically addressing the region’s most sorrowful housing situations, but the COVID-19 pandemic has added a layer of anguish that makes them pause and choke up when articulating the problem. With lives and livelihoods threatened in unprecedented ways, more people here are hurting like never before, they said.

Locking eyes in passing in a Hope House hallway with a fellow mask-clad, middle-class mother hammered home for Director Sue Lehman the heightened level of Hancock County eviction hardship.

Counseling a solidly self-sufficient but recently laid-off grandmother, responsible for raising her grandchild solo, in the ways of financial assistance to avoid getting forced out of their home shook program supervisor Starr Laytart, L.S.W.

Contending with a client whose fear of exposing his immunocompromised child to the virus therefore prevented him from going to work has been a heartbreaking example of calamitous love, explained Missy LaRocco, pro bono director/managing attorney of Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc.

“The numbers have risen astronomically” since the pandemic, said Lehman of people accessing Hope House services. For the first two weeks of October, the organization’s intake load increased by 75% more than it did for the entire month of September.

Systemic Support

The region’s disastrous eviction situation immediately drew the attention of The Community Foundation and several other nonprofits. During a virtual meeting TCF hosted this past spring, representatives unanimously agreed that eviction was, and continues to be, the most pressing pandemic-induced public assistance imperative. Economic contraction, the resulting unemployment spike and, in some instances, health-related hardships have exponentially exacerbated the region’s already-problematic rental housing market. Far more individuals, many of them long-established financially stable wage earners, can no longer afford to pay their rent.

Those working throughout the nation within the nonprofit sector point out that two federal eviction moratoriums haven’t been enough to stave off the surge.

“Even with the moratorium, Hancock County continues to see evictions,” said newly appointed TCF President Brian Treece, who was instrumental in gathering nonprofit partners at the pandemic’s start to pinpoint how organizations could best leverage their offerings and CARES Act dollars.

Many available rentals to those with an eviction on their record are substandard or even dangerous, said LaRocco.

To make matters worse, the eviction problem isn’t expected to let up any time soon. When the second moratorium expires at the start of 2021, an estimated $25.1 billion to $34.3 billion in back rent will be owed, and up to eight million people will be facing eviction filings, according to a housing tracking tool developed by the global advisory firm Stout Risius and Ross. To place that last figure in perspective, an Oct. 19 Reuters story reported, “In a typical year, 3.6 million people face eviction cases, according to the Princeton University Eviction Lab, a national housing research center.”

The local problem’s criticality necessitated a rapid response. The result: Housing Help Line establishment through the new Eviction Prevention Task Force (EPTF). The group, led by Hope House, is focused on offering direct rental relief to keep people in their homes while they continue to find jobs and identify other bill payment options.

In April, $255,000 was secured for this effort, including $155,000 from TCF’s William D. Frack Field of Interest Fund, M. Margaret Foster Women and Children Field of Interest Fund, a COVID-19 fund and unrestricted funds; $20,000 from Hope House CARES Act money from the Ohio Development Services Agency; and $50,000 from the HHWP Community Action Commission.

Another funding infusion came in September from Hancock County government, which awarded $500,000 for emergency assistance for individuals and households facing a COVID-19-related eviction and/or utility shut off. The county commissioners are well aware of residents’ dire situations created by job loss, reduced work hours, daycare closings, quarantining, illness, and caregivers to immunocompromised individuals.

Treece expressed gratitude for the monetary assistance made possible thanks to Hancock County Commissioners Timothy Bechtol, Mark Gazarek and Brian Robertson; county Auditor Charity Rauschenberg; and City of Findlay Mayor Christina Muryn.

“This need is far bigger than charity alone” can accommodate, Treece said.

Also contributing expertise and resources to this significant and complicated community wide endeavor are Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc.; Habitat for Humanity of Findlay/Hancock County; Hancock County Metropolitan Housing Authority; Hancock Christian Clearing House; FOCUS; Hancock Properties Foundation; the University of Findlay; area landlords; and United Way of Hancock County.

During the first funding round, 2,000 tenants in need of assistance was too much for the EPTF to immediately handle. Therefore, a sliding fee scale was developed to provide 150 families with three months of rent assistance ($200,000 total) and 50 families with one-time assistance of $25,000.

By the Numbers:

The local statistics speak for themselves

Shortage of 2,500 units for individuals making less than $35,000 annually, prior to the pandemic.

70% of individuals who are homeless here were working before the pandemic began and had income upon intake at Hope House.

161 school-aged children in Hancock County were homeless in 2018.

3.8% to 17.3% increase the pandemic caused Hancock County’s unemployment rate to spike from March 2020 to April.

• A local government and multiagency 2020 housing market study found a 97% multifamily apartment occupancy rate and only 30% of rental homes designated as single family.

• The EPTF estimated 2,000 households would need emergency rental assistance come late summer 2020, with many more expected down the road.

• Six months was the average relayed in a recent survey that asked local nonprofits how long they think they’ll be able to last without having to tap into additional resources or altar their operations. • More than 80% of those completing intakes for COVID-19-related assistance at Hope House have never accessed services in the past, which means the pandemic has forced many middle-class families into the low-income spectrum • Of the 9,509 Hancock County renters in spring 2020, 4,111 were paying more than 30% of their gross income on housing costs, putting them into the cost-burdened category.

Hundreds have received Housing Help Line assistance thus far. As of Oct. 16, more than $220,000 in emergency rental assistance funds had been used to serve 97 households comprised of 247 people. There had been 140 intakes totaling 361 people, said Lehman. All have different stories to tell, and all have desperately needed the support.

Carla (name changed to ensure privacy) is a case in point. In January, Carla, a single mom to two young children, had just entered the workforce after her marriage ended. Between her job as an elementary school aid and child support, she was able to make ends meet. That changed in March with her pandemicrelated layoff. With no safe and affordable childcare alternatives, no job, and being ineligible for unemployment because she had only worked a short time, Carla found herself in an unprecedented Catch-22 situation. Hope House employees said she had never used any support services and had no idea where to ask for help. Her landlord, a Hope House ally, directed her to the agency, which was able to provide her with emergency assistance and prevent a catastrophic event of homelessness for her family.

Service Sector and Societal Consequences

A portion of the local grant funding is being used to pay for additional staffing needs; Lehman said some part-time nonprofit workers’ hours have been increased. This eviction prevention collaborative is being conducted as an additional community service, thereby further extending a traditionally busy network. But the long-term benefits are clear. Organization members say that, along with directly assisting families in need, like Carla’s, this stabilization funding will, in turn, lessen the burden on area nonprofits.

Evictions can detrimentally affect families with other agencies if needed, gain trust, for decades or indefinitely and can have a and otherwise guide first-timers through this generational impact. A legal eviction leaves traumatic experience. “We serve the whole a permanent record, which often prevents person. We don’t just serve a house. In a nonpeople from finding future housing. Even an pandemic year, this is hard work,” she said. “We eviction filing can harm an individual’s chances treat people no matter who they are or where at alternative housing; Hope House workers they come from… with dignity and respect. If say some landlords won’t dig further into you don’t qualify for something, we will work court records to find out if the eviction actually hard to connect you with where you need to occurred. be.”

Homelessness can then cause a hardship Some have only needed one month of rent cascade that is difficult to mitigate, and the to stabilize themselves. Others, however, are pandemic is exacerbating more tapped out. “ those issues. Children required to learn online lose internet access, are often forced to switch schools, and are further exposed to the virus. The physical health and mental well-being of all involved can take its toll. Moreover, the societal costs rise exponentially as more seek public assistance. Researchers at New York University and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia examined the costs of homeless shelter provision, emergency room use and diminished earnings to estimate the average social cost of each eviction filing: $8,000 in New York state, or approximately $5,000 when adjusted for Ohio costs. Conclusion: it costs less to try to prevent an eviction than it does to help someone financially, physically and emotionally recover from one.

Nonprofits are taking note of the sharp increase in traditionally middle-class families asking for assistance. Their first-time status means they must not only be educated about the aid process from the ground up but are struggling mightily with the humbling and what the pandemic are forbidden to provide a comfy couch for friends and relatives to sleep on temporarily because of strict guidelines that prohibit any extra occupants, she said. If they do offer such help, they could face eviction themselves. some consider to be humiliating act of having to ask for such help.

“We treat people no matter who they are or where they come from...with dignity and respect. If you don't qualify for something, we will work hard to connect you with where you need to be.

“There are a lot of tears,” said Laytart, who detailed the great effort it takes for nonprofit workers to listen, sympathize, encourage, explain how things work, connect people with other agencies if needed, gain trust, and otherwise guide first-timers through this traumatic experience. “We serve the whole person. We don’t just serve a house. In a non-pandemic year, this is hard work,” she said. “We treat people no matter who they are or where they come from… with dignity and respect. If you don’t qualify for something, we will work hard to connect you with where you need to be.”

Some have only needed one month of rent to stabilize themselves. Others, however, are more tapped out.

“People are coming to us well behind” on payments of all kinds, said Lehman. Nationally, approximately 63% have sold off assets to pay for rent by actions such as cashing out retirement accounts, paying with credit cards and depleting their savings accounts.

Assistance that’s tied to federal funding can often be confusing and frustrating for anyone because it often comes with parameters that can deny needed help to people who acquire mere pennies more than the cutoff, LaRocco said. It’s called the “benefits cliff,” and it refers to the sudden decrease or denial in public benefits that can occur when individuals experience a minute earnings increase. Even some who were receiving federal housing assistance before the pandemic are forbidden to provide a comfy couch for friends and relatives to sleep on temporarily because of strict guidelines that prohibit any extra occupants, she said. If they do offer such help, they could face eviction themselves.

“We treat people no matter who they are or where they come from… with dignity and respect,” said Laytart. “If you don’t qualify for something, we will work hard to connect you with where you need to be. We never just do things halfway here. We don’t want to see people come back. It’s a beautiful thing to offer hope, guidance, support and a listening ear.”

Who is listening to nonprofit employees as they adjust to this new normal?

“Our staff are facing our own personal challenges with COVID-19. We’re watching our case managers” for burnout, said Lehman. “They’re doers, they feelers, they’re professionals and their hearts are invested.”

Relief Pitchers

The rental crisis, however, has also strengthened community partnerships and encouraged organizations to work together in uncommon ways. Local leaders partly credit the Center for Civic Engagement with laying the groundwork for such collaboration; the Center’s mission is to connect resources for enhanced services to address challenges ranging from food insecurity to illiteracy.

Hancock County’s eviction prevention effort “is only possible because everyone is doing this together,” said Treece.

“The collaboration has been phenomenal,” said Lehman. “Relationships were good before, but this has heightened those. We’ve been able to forge trust in a process. We’re willing to take on whatever is needed to make this work.”

Consequently, in hundreds of instances so far, tears that have fallen from frustration and fear have turned into tears of relief as families receive essential stopgap help with rental payments.

Given the problem’s extent, and the pandemic’s uncertain effect on future economic developments, Eviction Prevention Task Force members say they are committed to offering rental assistance through the end of this year.

Hope House workers say they’re grateful for this year’s funding that has provided emergency relief and much-needed longer term stabilization for individuals and community nonprofits.

“January 2 holds the key to how the beginning of 2021 will play out as it marks the end of the current moratorium on evictions,” said Lehman. Statistics and empirical evidence shows there are many households still in need of rental assistance who have not yet reached out for help, she noted.

“We know the economic impact of the pandemic will not be short-lived,” Lehman said.

How You Can Help

Donate directly to individual community nonprofits that are assisting with the housing crisis. At The Community Foundation, give to the Community Emergency Support Fund.

At Hope House, visit www.findlayhopehouse.networkforgood.com.