Love Columbia says it needs more money to prevent evictions as pandemic funding runs out
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Editor's note: Statistics in this story were updated.
The charity Love Columbia is asking for donations for its rental assistance program because pandemic-era stimulus money is nearly exhausted.
The organization says in a news release that it was notified on Aug. 19 that federal pandemic-era funding for rental assistance is no longer available.
On top of providing financial literacy courses and seminars on properly renting a home for the long term, Love Columbia says in a news release that it has used more than $800,000 of pandemic funds to help prevent evictions in Boone County, with 712 prevented evictions alone in the first half of 2024.
While being assisted by pandemic funds, Love Columbia was able to support one family's multiple months worth of rent, often preventing eviction.
Love Columbia Program Director Conrad Hake said the organization expected the extra pandemic funds to be a one-time occurrence; but the organization is disappointed it can't provide the same level of help.
According to the release, Love Columbia found an increased need for rent assistance, citing how rent in Columbia climbed since 2019. Love Columbia says average rent currently ranges from $861 per month for a one-bedroom to $1,620 for a four-bedroom, requiring a minimum hourly wage of $16.56 to stay afloat.
Now with standard fundraised and privately-funded money, Love Columbia is only able to give around $850 per household, barely covering a month of rent. A major change from pandemic funding.
"If somebody has an eviction filed already, one month of rent is a drop in the bucket," Hake said. "People are going to be looking for places they're going to have to leave and it's going to create a little bit of a tidal wave of new people that are trying to find housing in an already tight market."
According to Hake, the main issue Love Columbia has found to cause evictions is that hourly wages have been unable to keep up with rising rent prices, with families often having to choose between paying utilities, food, or rent.
"It's easy to get on a position of moral high ground when it comes to eviction," Hake said. "It's not about somebody choosing not to pay their bills or that they just don't care about their kids and their well-being, they're forced into decisions that they have to make."
John Trapp, executive director of Room at the Inn, agrees that a lack of rental assistance will affect Columbia's homeless population.
"Our homeless crisis is because we have a housing crisis and when there's not enough housing, then the rents increase and the requirements for getting an apartment or a house increase as well," Trapp said.
According to the Boone County Coalition to End Homelessness, there are 424 homeless people in Boone County, doubling from 204 last year. Columbia Public Schools reported 614 students experienced homelessness during the previous 2024 school year, the coalition reported.
