CONCORD, N.C. — Cabarrus County is making changes to its rental assistance program after housing advocates pointed out its flaws.
Evictions are steadily increasing in Cabarrus County, but housing advocates said it’s hard for renters to access emergency help. Down Home North Carolina is seeking solutions for the county program to help people on the brink of homelessness.
The organization has been pushing for Cabarrus County to improve its “Crisis Financial Assistance” for months.
"It is a severely underfunded program, a lot of people don’t know it exists and it's severely underutilized because of that," explained Jasmine Lewter, the Cabarrus County regional organizer for Down Home North Carolina.
The program can help people facing evictions but only offers up to $500 and the application can't be found online.
"Cabarrus County has an eviction crisis and it needs to be taken seriously," Lewter added.
According to the North Carolina Housing Coalition, Cabarrus County ranks 6th in the state for evictions. Mecklenburg County ranks 7th.
In Fiscal Year 2021, about 1,500 eviction notices were filed in Cabarrus County. Fiscal Year 2022 saw about 2,600 evictions. Data pulled with a few months left in Fiscal Year 2023 shows there have been nearly 3,300 evictions so far.
Lewter said many people struggling to pay rent are dealing with several crises at once.
"They end up being served evictions and evictions can go on your record for up to seven years and it makes you nearly impossible to be considered a tenant anywhere else, which is how people end up homeless," Lewter said.
Down Home North Carolina has been rallying for a better county program to help prevent people from being evicted. After catching Cabarrus County Commissioners’ attention, leaders voted Monday to nearly double the program’s funding to $160,000, double renter’s assistance to up to $1,000, and put the application online.
"I think what we've done will make it easier and I think we'll see an increase in the use of those funds," Commissioner Lynn Shue told WCNC Charlotte.
Shue explained the county funded the program with $85,000 last year, but only a few thousand dollars were used because not many people knew about it. So, the leftover money will roll over to the upcoming fiscal year with an additional $85,000 added to the fund.
Shue has asked county staff to report back on how the new and improved program is doing in a few months to ensure the money is getting to people who need it.
The application is expected to be on Cabarrus County's website in a few weeks. As the county works to get that rental assistance application live, residents can get it in person at the Department of Human Services in Kannapolis. The address is 1303 S Cannon Boulevard Kannapolis, North Carolina.
County residents can also ask for the application by sending a request to EnergyAssistance@cabarruscounty.us or calling 704-920-1400.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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