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A Wisconsin group criticizes two of its members of Congress, a new report says the Phoenix area cannot meet its groundwater demands, and Nevada's sporting community sends its priorities to the governor.

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Eviction Prevention Program Moves Upstream to Help Families

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Thursday, May 18, 2023   

An eviction prevention program is working to ensure evictions do not happen in the first place.

The United Way of King County has provided $500,000 of flexible funding as aid for more than 1,000 affordable housing units across the county. It is a partnership with the affordable housing developer HNN Communities.

Marlo Klein, senior community impact manager for homelessness prevention for United Way of King County, said the goal of the pilot program is to ensure someone already in affordable housing does not lose it.

"We already have a homeless crisis going on and it's so important to keep people in their housing whenever possible; prevent the trauma of homelessness," Klein explained. "There's not enough space or resources for housing for folks to find that they can afford."

Klein pointed out the program provides funding for anything putting someone at risk of eviction, comparing it to a savings account.

For instance, she recalled a woman in one of the HNN units was having car trouble, preventing her from getting to work and child care. Funds from the eviction prevention program were able to help.

"Our money's being put to use in a lot of creative ways for household's unexpected needs that jeopardizes their ability to pay their rent on time, and we can fill that gap," Klein emphasized.

Klein noted the inspiration for the program came while she was managing a different eviction prevention program at the King County courthouse before the pandemic. She noticed a lot of people being evicted were coming from affordable housing programs and wondered what could be done to help.

"As a result of what we learned before the pandemic started at the courthouse, we decided to kind of move our work a little bit more upstream to help people avoid even getting an eviction in the first place," Klein concluded.

Disclosure: The United Way of King County contributes to our fund for reporting on Community Issues and Volunteering, Education, Housing/Homelessness, and Human Rights/Racial Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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