SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — While the debate continues over a federal moratorium on evictions, one Cuyahoga County church is helping those looking for relief on housing bills.
Reverend Courtney Clayton Jenkins serves as the senior pastor at South Euclid United Church of Christ, which announced it raised more than $34,000.
The money will help around 70 local families through several area nonprofits.
"Paying rent is a huge problem,” Jenkins said.
South Euclid United Church of Christ will split the money between Monument Real Estate Services, the Cleveland Housing Network (CHN Housing Partners), the Cleveland Housing Court Assistance, and also donate some of the money to parishioners through the church’s benevolence fund.
Kate Carden serves as the director of financial mobility for CHN Housing Partners, a nonprofit based in Cleveland that’s still processing thousands of applications to help those in need of housing stability during the pandemic.
“Some people might not realize, folks are still out of work,” she said. “To date, applicants have lost over $230 million. That's about $22,000 per household that’s been lost.”
Earlier this week, the CDCextended its eviction moratorium through the end of June. The money donated by SEUCC is meant to help fill in the gap for those who might not check all the boxes when it comes to the moratorium or other avenues of federal, state or local relief.
“We did not put those restrictions on the dollars,” Rev. Jenkins said. “Our ultimate hope is this just has to go help people stay in their homes.”
The money was raised by the church’s nearly 1,000 members over the course of the beginning of the year.
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