By Elaine S. Povich | Stateline.org (TNS)
Julie Ray lives in a mobile home in Pearl River, Louisiana, with her two teenage daughters, Jerilynn and Jasmine. Her mother, Barbara, used to live there too, but she had a stroke before the pandemic hit and had to move to a nursing home. In May, she died there, from COVID-19.
Julie Ray lost her job at a local grocery store in March. Now she canât pay her $700 a month rent and is in danger of eviction.
She was approved for state-sponsored rental assistance, but had trouble getting her landlord to fill out the paperwork, she said in a phone interview, so that never happened. Then, Ray, 42, got an eviction notice. She went to court and a federal moratorium on evictions â put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sept. 4 â saved her.
Stimulus bill to help thousands on the brink in New Orleans area: Is it enough? I doubt it nola.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nola.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Julie Ray lives in a mobile home in Pearl River, Louisiana, with her two teenage daughters, Jerilynn and Jasmine. Her mother, Barbara, used to live there too, but she had a stroke before the pandemic hit and had to move to a nursing home. In May, she died there, from COVID-19.
Julie Ray lost her job at a local grocery store in March. Now she can’t pay her $700 a month rent and is in danger of eviction.
She was approved for state-sponsored rental assistance, but had trouble getting her landlord to fill out the paperwork, she said in a phone interview, so that never happened. Then, Ray, 42, got an eviction notice. She went to court and a federal moratorium on evictions put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sept. 4 saved her.
Ben Depp/National Geographic Society
This holiday season, many of us are struggling to find cheer amid the gloom. If you’re in a position to give, maybe you’re looking to spread some cheer or if not cheer, relief by donating to a local organization addressing the many challenges our neighbors face.
Before COVID-19 hit, Louisiana topped the charts when it came to incarceration rates, poverty, poor health outcomes, racial disparities, homelessness, environmental pollution and more. The pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated many of those problems.
But in the past 10 months, the greater New Orleans community has also come together to assist some of its most vulnerable people. Here we have put together a list of some of the organizations working to provide direct assistance.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, single mother Alora Manny was working third shift at an Amazon fulfillment center in Phoenix. Though she had a two-hour commute by bus, she was able to support her three children and pay the $1,248 in monthly rent for her one-bedroom apartment near downtown.
Manny, 31, loved her job and earned $1,200 to $1,500 per week, often picking up extra hours. But when Phoenix implemented passenger limits on public transportation to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Manny s two-hour commute turned into a four-hour journey some days. She would wait at the bus stop, only to watch the shuttles drive past her because they were at capacity. After arriving late to work a fifth time, Manny lost her job.