TOLEDO, Ohio — Lucas County's new Eviction Prevention League is designed to help people struggling with the threat of eviction.
Formed by the Lucas County Commissioners based on an idea by commission president Gary Byers, the program will see the hiring of a so-called 'navigator', who will respond to calls from locals struggling with home insecurity.
The navigator will then point them in the direction of specific local outreach groups that can help with their situation.
"Each eviction case, each family is different. So having someone that is not just trying to put a square peg in a round hole, having someone that understands that and can help the individuals and the families that are asking for help in a meaningful way, that's what this program will hopefully do," Byers said.
Organizations like ABLE, The United Way, The Homelessness Board, the Fair Housing Center and Pathway Inc. are bringing their own resources and employees to the table to help keep people in their homes.
Byers said the threat of eviction throws a huge weight on people.
"When a family is evicted, the impact it can have on the family can be devastating. It affects the family's impression of themselves and how they fit into this community," Byers said.
Jay Black, CEO of Pathway Inc, said not only will his organization work to prevent evictions, it also will also give people the tools and education to make sure they're not in that situation again.
"The measures we'll be using at pathways is how many people we help get employed, how many people we help find affordable housing, how many people we help launch a new business," Black said.
The program will be paid for with $300,000 in federal money, but the majority of funding going to preventing eviction will come from the programs they're referring people to, creating a system that's designed to help people for decades to come.