“Colored communities are most affected by the evacuation crisis, representing 80% of the vulnerable,” according to the National Coalition for Low-Income Housing.
In Atlanta, United Way says 95% of the families it helps fight eviction are black.
Both black and Latino families are consistently reporting low confidence in the ability to pay rent during the pandemic, lawyers say.
Jasmine Cruz of Atlanta says she lives off her loan time, as do many others behind their rent.
The 25-year-old single mother owes two months’ rent and recently received a notice asking her to pay.
“It’s not easy,” she says. – I struggled.
“Kids don’t know how to get over it”
Nowhere else to go for help, Cruz visited the Thrive Resource Center, which is operated from a makeshift office in an apartment building. There he met Monica Delancy, who helps those at risk of being evacuated.
“We don’t want you to get there at the moment,” Delancy told him. “If you have to move, we want you to move with dignity. We want you to move and pack your things and we’ll find you a place. But we don’t want you to be forced out, because kids don’t know how to get over it. Adults can. The children do not know how. “
Delancy says she was evacuated this time last year – “on a cold day like this, with a Christmas tree.”
Garnell Hodge is also facing evacuation. Hodge lost her job in the service industry because of the pandemic and worries about her and her 9-year-old niece after an evacuation notice came.
“I also have nowhere to go because the places are so big and I don’t have much income,” she said.
Protip Biswas of United Way says the agency is overwhelmed with requests for help.
“Not only can we not help, funding expires at the end of December,” he says. “This is the biggest plea we have – if there is a way to expand it so that we can continue to help families.”
Millions remain due to rent or mortgage payments
CNN’s Lauren Lee contributed to the report.