A Columbia non-profit organization that assists residents who struggle to provide for their basic needs says they have exhausted their remaining eviction relief assistance. Love Columbia executive director Jane Williams tells 939 the Eagle that they need your help:
“It means that we have fewer funds, so we’re strictly relying on what we would like to say is pre-pandemic funding levels, which is a very small amount through Missouri Housing Development Commission and then what we can raise through private donations,” Williams says.
Love Columbia is appealing for donations, saying that in the first half of 2024, they served more than 2,000 households and prevented more than 700 evictions through supportive services, financial assistance and housing counseling.
The organization says Columbia rent prices have been rising since 2019. Love Columbia’s Williams tells 939 the Eagle that many residents struggle to cover their basic needs. She says the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is now $861:
“Rent has gone up an average of 25 percent across-the-board and people’s wages just haven’t matched that,” says Williams.
Ms. Williams says hourly wages of $16.56 an hour are required to afford an apartment or housing without being cost-burdened. She also says Love Columbia has exhausted their remaining eviction relief assistance. They raised about $150,000 during last year’s “Keep a roof over your head” campaign, and Ms. Williams notes all of that money went to rent assistance for residents.
She also says the leading predictor of eviction is having children and that once a family becomes homeless, it’s difficult for them to regain stability. Williams says Columbia Public Schools (CPS) reported that 614 students experienced homelessness during the 2023-24 school year:
“These are particularly students that have needed to get bus service from a hotel or we know are living just in a shelter of some type. So we believe there are more than that even,” Williams says.
She also says transiency is the leading cause of poor academic performance, adding that children are at greater risk for child neglect and abuse following an eviction.
