Nonprofit hopes to expand efforts to halt evictions in Atlanta
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A nonprofit legal advocacy group hopes a boost in funding from the city will help it continue a program that helps people fight evictions.
Why it matters: Helping people stay in their homes fosters stability, especially as housing affordability grows increasingly out of reach for many Atlanta residents.
By the numbers: Since its launch as a pilot in 2022, the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation's advocacy program has helped about 800 households understand their rights and available legal resources during the eviction process, AVLF executive director Michael Lucas told Axios.
- It's also provided representation and eviction prevention services to 188 households, giving out $84,000 in emergency rental assistance.
- Lucas said about 95% of their cases stem from tenants originally having maintenance issues they've previously raised with landlords.
What they're saying: "So part of what we're doing is making sure we're addressing that underlying issues," Lucas told Axios. "So it's not one of those situations where rental assistance is paid, but two months later, there's still a problem because the underlying dispute hasn't been addressed."
Zoom in: The City Council is considering a proposal to contribute another $600,000 to AVLF to continue the program.
- It was set to be voted on during Monday's meeting but was tabled to give city staff more time to determine how Atlanta's affordable housing trust fund is being used, Council member Matt Westmoreland told Axios.
- Lucas told Axios the additional money could be used to help AVLF reach more people in its targeted areas, though the nonprofit still plans to raise money from the private sector to match city dollars.
- "Evictions have really far-reaching consequences in destabilizing families, but also real challenges to health and education and economic stability, and a big part of what we're committed to with this pilot is increasing the understanding of that," he said.
The big picture: Tenant rights have been gaining momentum at the state level. Gov. Brian Kemp last year signed into law legislation that created habitability standards for renters.
- However, bills to address housing affordability failed to gain traction during this year's legislative session.
Zoom out: Alison Johnson, executive director of the Housing Justice League, told Axios that reaching the most vulnerable also means putting canvassers in neighborhoods to inform residents about legal services and connect them with people who can help them.
- "What we see are people who are on the margins of becoming unsheltered, [and] people who do not understand how the process of eviction happens," she said.
What's next: Westmoreland said the $600,000 request could be brought back for the April 21 Council meeting.