Virginia faith leaders addressed Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam at a virtual news conference on Sunday where they asked him to hold off on evictions so they can help inform residents about the assistance and protections in place to keep people in their homes who have been unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program has been in effect since late June, and it is designed to help people who have been laid off or had their hours reduced due to the pandemic pay their rent or mortgage. Residents can call 2-1-1 in Virginia to
Virginia’s moratorium on evictions expired on June 28.
Safe, stable, and affordable housing is more important now than ever as we continue to battle this virus.
Today, we are launching the Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program, which will invest $50 million to support Virginians facing eviction or foreclosure due to .
鈥� Ralph Northam (@GovernorVA)
Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE), a group of 65 faith institutions in Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, said fear of having an eviction on their rental record drives a lot of residents to self-evict.
Rev. Kristen McBrayer, of Emmaus United Church of Christ in Vienna said as a result, residents are panicking.
鈥淲e鈥檝e heard up to 58% of people self-evict because they are fearful of what an eviction on their record will do to future renting,鈥� McBrayer said.
Saif Rahman, Director of Public and Government affairs the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Fairfax County said this happens because most renters don鈥檛 know they would most likely be eligible for pandemic relief.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an issue that is, across the board, an information issue. People don鈥檛 know that they have these rights, the judges themselves aren鈥檛 actually aware of some of the rights of renters, and therefore evictions are proceeding even though they aren鈥檛 supposed to.鈥�
A high percentage of renters are people of color 鈥� and they鈥檙e disproportionately affected by housing instability due to the pandemic.
Rev. Dr. Keith Savage of First Baptist Church in Manassas said he sees it firsthand in his own congregation after the state’s eviction moratorium was lifted at the end of June.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hearing the same stories of people calling for rental assistance 鈥� who have reached out to the organizations, government organizations 鈥� in the African American, the Black communities, that they are going through the system but it鈥檚 just not working,鈥� he said.
VOICE leaders said clear communication on rental assistance is imperative for everyone, but even more for residents with school-age children.
Rev. Dr. Darrell King of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Alexandria said evictions will be a blow to parents and children.
鈥淚f parents are being evicted out of their homes during that first quarter, that is going to severely hamper their children鈥檚 ability to be educated,鈥� King said.
More than 70 letters have been sent to Gov. Northam to demand executive action to extend the eviction moratorium until the end of August.
