Despite the growing threat of mass evictions, displacement and homelessness, Congress adjourned for August recess, leaving millions of renters and people experiencing homelessness without the resources and protections they need to remain stably housed. Join NLIHC, the Coalition on Human Needs, and other advocates across the nation for a Day of Action today, August 24, to demand that Congress #GetBackToWork and immediately pass a coronavirus relief bill that includes the essential resources and protections for America’s lowest-income renters and people experiencing homelessness included in the “HEROES Act.”
Take Action on August 24
- Call and email your senators and representatives. Tell them to #DoYourJob, get back to the negotiating table, and immediately pass the essential housing provisions in the HEROES Act. Find the telephone number for your members of Congress here or send an email! Use the sample script below.
- Use NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit to schedule meetings with members of Congress and demand action..
- Amplify personal stories, news articles, blog posts, and other information on social media about how congressional inaction is exacerbating evictions and harming people with the lowest incomes. Include #GetBackToWork, #DoYourJob, and #RentReliefNow in your social media posts. Use NLIHC’s social media toolkit for sample posts and images. Additional sample social media posts for the Day of Action are below.
- Share stories with NLIHC on how the threat of being evicted has impacted your well-being. Fill out NLIHC’s story banking form and we’ll share your stories with members of Congress, reporters, and on social media.
- Pitch op-eds to your local newspapers about the need for Congress to restart negotiations and how the pandemic is harming low-income renters and people experiencing homelessness. NLIHC’s #RentReliefNow Media Toolkit contains an op-ed template that you can use to help get you started.
Sample Script to Use When Calling or Emailing Members of Congress:
I’m calling/emailing to urge you to get back to work, do your job, and work with your colleagues to immediately pass a coronavirus relief package that includes funding to meet the urgent needs of America’s lowest-income renters and people experiencing homelessness.
Eviction risks lives, pushes families deeper into poverty, and further strains our nation’s public health system, making it more difficult to contain the virus. People experiencing homelessness are vulnerable to contracting coronavirus, and once infected are more likely to require critical care and die from the disease. Ensuring people can remain stably housed in the middle of a pandemic is not only a moral imperative; it’s a public health necessity.
The next coronavirus relief package must include funding to help keep America’s lowest-income renters stably housed. Congress should provide at least $100 billion for emergency rental assistance, a uniform moratorium on all foreclosures and evictions, and $11.5 billion to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
The time for political games and brinkmanship has long passed. Negotiations must restart, and a comprehensive deal that includes robust housing and homelessness protections and resources must be enacted as soon as possible.
Sample Social Media Posts for the Day of Action:
- It’s 8/24 & millions of Americans will be tripling up in homes or moving to shelters because the 30-day notice on evictions in the #CARESAct has expired. #GetBacktoWork Senate! We need #RentReliefNow https://tinyurl.com/y7hdl9zb
- Landlords started filing evictions on 7/24. Now it’s 1 month later & we’re going to start seeing a new wave of evictions. #DoYourJob Senate! Help families #stablyhouse during #COVID19 by passing #RentReliefNow https://tinyurl.com/y7hdl9zb
- 30-40M people are at high risk of eviction or displacement. The Senate needs to #GetBacktoWork, pass legislation that provides #RentReliefNow & keep these families from facing eviction https://tinyurl.com/y7hdl9zb
- Time has run out for families across the U.S. who were scraping together resources to keep from getting evicted once the 30-day notice to evict in the #CARESAct ended. Senate, #DoYourJob! Help these families keep their homes. Support #RentReliefNow https://tinyurl.com/y7hdl9zb
- #CARESAct eviction protections expire today & millions of families don’t see any relief in sight. The Senate must #GetBacktoWork & help their constituents keep roofs over their heads during #COVID19 https://tinyurl.com/y7hdl9zb
- #TrumpsEO did NOTHING to help with evictions & homelessness. Now, millions of families are out of time & can no longer stay in their homes. The Senate must #GetBacktoWork & do what they can to help these families #stablyhouse https://tinyurl.com/y7hdl9zb
Read NLIHC’s Call to Action at: https://nlihc.org/take-action/calls-action