PHOENIX — The human right to housing: it’s something Phoenix neighbors and leaders demanded during a rally at City Hall Wednesday. Residents are mobilizing after a record number of renters faced eviction in Maricopa County last year.
About two dozen people attended the rally, carrying signs that read: “We Support Right To Counsel.”
They want the city to permanently fund a program that connects tenants on the brink of eviction to legal services. Advocates say there are both emotional and financial benefits.
In northwest Phoenix, Catharine Wilkins has a studio apartment, with a peaceful corner and all the tools to meet her needs.
“I'm going to get a little dining room table to put there,” she said, walking around the apartment. “Everything is new… That’s a woman’s dream, to have all that closet space!”
The home: now one that Wilkins calls her own.
“I am just in awe,” she said.
Until she moved in at the beginning of the month, Wilkins did not have her own home for more than two years.
“I was in deep depression because I was like, ‘What am I going to do?’ I've been on my own for forty years,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins said when management raised the rent at her old apartment by $400, she could not afford it. She is living on disability checks.
“I was told verbally, ‘We're going to put a padlock on your door,’” Wilkins said.
She had moved in with her daughter, but Wilkins says that might have been different if she had a lawyer.
“It could have helped me by giving me legal advice,” Wilkins said. “There is a procedure to go through when you're trying to evict someone. These people just can't put you out.”
It is why the nonprofit Organized Power in Numbers rallied Phoenix residents to advocate for a renter’s Right To Counsel.
While 94 percent of landlords have legal representation, less than one percent of tenants facing eviction do, according to Organized Power in Numbers.
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Right now, Phoenix has a temporary program to connect renters at risk of eviction to legal help. The Tenants Eviction Assistance Project (TEAP) started in 2020 thanks to COVID relief funds.
However, City Council Member Kesha Hodge Washington, District 8, says by next year, that money will run out.
“It all comes down to our budget, and what are available funds,” she said about whether the program will continue.
Councilwoman Hodge Washington says the city has applied for additional grant funding. She says beyond helping people, a Right To Counsel could save money.
“Philadelphia has made a small investment, similar to what I think would be needed here in Phoenix, and they have seen a tremendous cost saving,” Hodge Washington said. “I think if you apply a cost benefit analysis, if you don't want to take the emotional route, you still see the benefit of this Right To Counsel initiative.”
For Wilkins, the dignity of having a safe, clean, and affordable home, ignites her passion to help others.
“Right To Counsel is a light shining,” Wilkins said. “I always say, if you can see that little light shining, it gives you hope.”
