ATLANTA — Atlanta City Council approved a resolution Monday that will help people facing housing instability and eviction.
As part of the legislation, $2 million will go toward the launch of an eviction prevention program and the nonprofit Star-C will oversee it. Star-C assists low-income households with a variety of resources from afterschool childcare to affordable housing. Councilmembers said it's a proactive move as the city's eviction moratorium was lifted last month.
Single mother Michelle Harrison whose son has been a part of Star-C's afterschool program for the last year says this eviction prevention program is critical for the striving working class.
“None of us want a handout. No one is just sitting here on food stamps not trying to get ahead," she said. "We’re working. Working class is just right in the middle, so we just make enough, but not enough to get help from other agencies."
Harrison said she works nonstop and loves her job. She tries to keep a level head on her shoulders as she prioritizes providing for her son.
"If life gives you lemons, you make lemonade because having a bad spirit about it is not going to give you anything," she said.
The mother of a 9-year-old boy, Harrison said she is blessed to have what she does - because it wasn't always easy.
"I was married for a long time and I finally got the nerve to leave my ex-husband," she said. "But I didn't have any income, so I went to a domestic violence shelter and that's where I really started getting back on my feet."
It took a lot of learning but she was eager to be out on her own.
"I grew up in foster care so I didn't really have people to tell me 'OK, this is how you're supposed to go about life,'" she explained tearfully. "So I had to learn everything on my own."
Though she acknowledged that she was at a disadvantage, she said her determination to keep a roof over her head and her son's was what motivated her to move forward.
That determination is seen in her home.
With her son's photos decorating the walls along with his homework assignments with perfect scores, she said she's grateful to those who have supported her and her child.
"I'm sad because I wish I could give him so much more. I'm proud of him," she said. "He is proud of me, but I'm just proud of the person he is becoming."
That's why she says an eviction prevention program can be life-changing for so many like herself who are just trying to make ends meet.
Star-C said the eviction prevention program will open its application process soon and it will be available to renters 25 and younger and 65 and older, as well as single parents with children in the Atlanta Public School System. The program will pay up to $6,000 per household.