The Wells Fargo Foundation has announced grants totaling nearly $11 million to seven legal assistance organizations and twelve housing counseling agencies to help keep people housed.

The grants will enable the organizations to provide free or low-cost legal counseling and representation to people at risk of eviction, advance advocacy work, and identify solutions to mitigate evictions across the United States, including for Black, Indigenous, and people of color disproportionately affected by the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. The effort is expected to assist more than two hundred and fifty renters and homeowners.

According to research from the Aspen Institute and the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, as many as forty million U.S. renters have been impacted by the pandemic-related economic downturn could face eviction.

"New York is still facing a surging pandemic coupled with looming mass evictions," said Edward Josephson, supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society in New York City, which will receive a grant. "Rental relief is desperately needed, especially with the eviction moratorium in limbo, and many need assistance from organizations like ours to secure protection from eviction as well as the promise of monetary relief. With Wells Fargo's commitment, we've been able to extend outreach and guide our clients through processes that keep them safe and in their homes."

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