Official Press Statement from the Detroit Branch NAACP

HUD Corrects Error of Evicting 101-Year Old Senior But Will Others Be as Fortunate?

DETROIT, Sept. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The eviction of a 101-year-old senior from her home of over 50 years made local and national headlines.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) acted quickly in agreeing to allow Ms. Texana Hollis to move back into her home.  Ms. Hollis' eviction just happens to highlight issues within our community.  The issues of foreclosure, evictions, and sheriff sales are happening everyday.  There have been repeated calls for help to beleaguered homeowners who can't afford their property taxes, have mortgage payments that are denied modifications and feel as if no one hears their cries for help.  What will happen to others who won't be as fortunate as Ms. Hollis and have HUD or their mortgage company allow them back into their homes?  For those who are evicted if they don't have family or friends to turn to, they end up in shelters, or worse, living on the streets.  

Situations of families in peril will soon be magnified as over 11,000 families will be cut off of cash assistance on October 1.  These 11,000 families will leave 30,000 children in potentially precarious situations as their families struggle to figure out how to survive.  The THAW program that provides assistance to families in need of help paying their heating and electrical bills has had their funding slashed. Who will those in need be able to turn to if THAW isn't able to assist them?  If a family reports to the Department of Human Services (DHS) that they are living in a home without properly running utilities the children are removed from that home.  This in turn breaks up a family and adds more children to an overburdened foster care system.  Recent reports indicate that just last week 11,000 additional persons applied for unemployment compensation due to job loss and layoffs.  We believe there must be an emergency program to help the poor and those right at the edge of pending economic disaster in order to stabilize and improve the quality of life in our urban centers.  For us not to address these issues means we put further burdens on city and state agencies to keep peace and calmness within our communities.  We urge state lawmakers and the governor to think very carefully about the negative impact these pending decisions will have on the stability of our community.

For every action there is a reaction and the community is not prepared for the repercussions of massive cuts, evictions and dwindled resources as Michigan heads into its chilly fall and cold winter months.  We have to fix these problems before it is too late.  The appropriate federal and state agencies must be responsible, do their due diligence and be held accountable for their responses to the least amongst us.  We cannot simply evict, remove people from assistance and hope that they fare well.  

The Detroit Branch NAACP is the organization's largest branch.  For more information on the Detroit Branch NAACP please call (313) 871-2087 or visit www.detroitnaacp.org.

SOURCE Detroit Branch NAACP

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