In Reading, 2,300 households are at imminent risk of eviction, including 1,700 children

On Tuesday, Make the Road Pennsylvania, the largest Latinx organization in Pennsylvania, will gather local renters and community members outside Readings’s eviction court, demanding that Governor Wolf and the state legislature indefinitely extend Pennsylvania’s eviction moratorium, which expired on August 31. In July, a 55-member coalition led by Make the Road PA successfully pushed Governor Wolf to extend the eviction moratorium, warning of a looming eviction crisis that is now imminent. Protesters will also call for applications to the state’s troubled Rent Relief Program to be streamlined and processed in a timely manner, and urge the courts to refuse to process eviction proceedings to prevent a catastrophic crisis of eviction and homelessness.

Said Migreldi Lara, Make the Road PA member leader:

“Governor Wolf and the state legislature must extend the eviction moratorium, or my three kids and I will be on the street. I lost my job as a hairstylist because of the pandemic, and there have been days when my children and I didn’t have anything to eat. As a single mother, I am very worried about being evicted and homeless since I have not been able to pay the rent for three months. My landlord keeps asking me for money, but I have no way to pay him until I get my job back.”

One in five adults in Pennsylvania either missed July’s rent or mortgage payment or had little or no confidence their household could make those payments on time in August, according to a recent US Census Bureau survey. Three in 10 Berks County residents are renters, including the majority of Latino and Black residents, according to the National Equity Atlas (data available upon request). In Reading, 60% of households are renters, and a third of renters pay more than half their income in rent, qualifying as “severely rent-burdened” according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

WHO:

• Members of Make the Road Pennsylvania
• Migreldi Lara, renter and Make the Road Pennsylvania member leader
• Nate Rivera from the office of Reading Mayor Eddie Moran

WHAT:

• Protest urging Governor Wolf and the state legislature to extend the eviction moratorium indefinitely

WHEN:

• Tuesday, September 1, 2020 at 2 p.m.

WHERE:

• Berks County Courthouse, Washington & Reed Street, Reading PA, 19601

Make the Road Pennsylvania is the largest Latinx organization in the state of Pennsylvania, dedicated to organizing the working class in Latinx communities, building power for justice.

Information provided to TVL by:
Christina DiPasquale

 

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