North Carolinians Against Evictions
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Groups in Charlotte, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem joined a national uprising calling for eviction courts to be closed and rent and mortgages to be canceled through the pandemic.
Those affected by the crisis, such as Nicole Cureton, shared their story at the demonstrations in North Carolina. Cureton, who is not currently working, spoke at the Charlotte event. She said her landlord gave her a notice to vacate the property she’s renting because he’s selling it.
“As I said, I’m in court this Friday fighting for my human rights, fighting for my children, fighting for my family so we won’t get evicted,” Cureton says. “I will not stop fighting until we have won. We have all won.”
Nakitta Long in Winston-Salem says her landlord told her she had to leave her home by October.
“I lost my job due to COVID-19 and my landlord decided to put the house up for auction and I have two children, 17 and 4, and I have been struggling to pay the bills, keep everything caught up,” Long says. “We are not lazy. We're not looking for a handout. We just want to live.”
Action N.C. organized the event in Charlotte. Apryl Lewis, who is the co-founder of Action N.C.’s Tenant Organizing Resource Center, says the eviction moratorium and the freeze on rent and mortgages is necessary to prevent homelessness and small businesses from going bankrupt.
“We want people to stay at home and stay safe, if they don’t have a home, they can’t stay at home,” Lewis says.
In addition, she’s advocating for the passage of House Bill 1200 in North Carolina, which will allocate $200,000,000 to the coronavirus relief fund to help struggling homeowners and renters.