Stop Evictions Now
No Home, No Hope
IN AUGUST, WE HELPED 110 FAMILIES STAY IN THEIR HOMES.
SEPTEMBER – 77 EVICTIONS STOPPED & 64 UTILITIES RECONNECTED OR KEPT FROM DISCONNECTION
OCTOBER – 110 EVICTIONS STOPPED & 69 UTILITIES RECONNECTED OR KEPT FROM DISCONNECTION
(SOME OF THESE UTILITIES NEEDS WERE EMERGENCY HEATING OIL FOR THE COLD WEATHER NIGHTS WE’VE BEEN EXPERIENCING)
In Buncombe County, Over 32,000 Families Face Eviction*
Imagine not knowing where you will live tomorrow.
Miss Pam, a volunteer counselor, met Charles with a smile and asked how we could assist. Charles began telling her about how he was struggling to maintain housing for him and his son. Charles had been “robbing Peter to pay Paul” for over a year since losing his job as a cook. Charles was employed with a restaurant and the small business owners were unable to stay open after COVID-19 hit Buncombe County. Charles had spent the year applying for other positions with no luck. In an effort to keep his bills paid, Charles would do odd jobs, but they didn’t pay much. Charles was now two months behind with his rent and was worried he and his son would soon be homeless.
Already this year, ABCCM has seen a 500% increase in rental assistance requests, despite the moratorium. We expect a Crisis of tsunami-scale proportions of rent requests to inundate our crisis ministries. This crisis will be the greatest to hit Buncombe County since the Great Recession.
Helping Our Neighbors – Helping Our Communities
Renting families are not the only ones who will be overcome by this crisis. Many landlords, some of whom are retired and rely on the one or two houses they’ve built for income, are struggling. While the rent moratorium was in effect, they were still responsible for mortgages. If the renters cannot pay their rent, the landlords cannot pay the mortgages so the banks might have to foreclose- shades of the Great Recession. Families will leave the area, homes will be vacant, and businesses already struggling to find workers will face even greater labor shortages.
How You Can Help
1. Will you pray for these families in crisis and for our ABCCM volunteers to be able to help these families in crisis?
2. Will you become a Volunteer Crisis Counselor? You can help STOP the EVICTIONS by working with these families to create a PLAN to keep them in their homes. You can volunteer by going to volunteer@abccm.org.
3. Will you donate to give HOPE to these families in crisis? Donate using the form above or mail checks to ABCCM 20 20th St. Asheville, NC 28806.
Every dollar you give will go to keeping a local family in their home. Let’s help our neighbors in need together.
*NCHousing.org