TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Shirley Rasmus never thought she would find herself facing homelessness. When her rent went up and her social security payments didn't, she couldn't make ends meet.
"I get 841 SSI and my rent went from 744 to 960," she said. "I can't get that out of 841 that’s why I got evicted.”
So her neighbor told her about Pima County's Emergency Eviction Legal Services program.
"And once she told me about them, the next thing I know they were calling me," she said. "And it went just like that – a miracle. It really was a miracle."
The program helps people become fully represented in court when facing eviction and providing other services to help them find a roof over their head. The National Association for County Community and Economic Development gave the county an award of excellence for the program.
Rasmus said she was overwhelmed with gratefulness when she finally got the call.
“I was so scared because of my cats," she said. "If it wasn’t for them we would be homeless because today was the last day."
The program started in August of 2021 and since then, helped over 200 people be fully represented in court. Back in 2020, only 79 tenants were fully represented in court.
"We’re trying to do everything that we can to prevent all evictions that are preventable and for those that aren’t we will do everything to keep folks sheltered," Andy Flagg, the deputy director of Pima County Workforce and Development.
The program is funded by COVID-19 relief money and they partnered with other local agencies to provide people with rent assistance or housing.
"Rent and utility assistance, work force development services youth services and offer everything we can to help them holistically," Flagg said.
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