EVICTION PREVENTION AND REHOUSING
Our housing programs
ACCESS TO COUNSEL IN EVICTIONS (ACE) PROGRAM: FREE LEGAL HELP WITH EVICTIONS
Are you at risk of eviction or losing your housing subsidy? You may be eligible for free legal assistance.
Renters in Baltimore City may apply for services online. If you rent outside Baltimore City, continue to fill out the form to receive a referral to a lawyer in your area.
Note: If you have received a notice of a scheduled court hearing and you want to defend your cases, you must attend the hearing. If you do not go to court, the judge may rule in favor of your landlord.
A place to call home is one of the most basic—and essential—human needs. Evictions in our region are increasing at a staggering pace, with more people out of work or working fewer hours because of the pandemic. Some of them are living in motels, staying with friends, sleeping in their cars—or worse, on the streets.
We rapidly rehouse those who have lost their homes and prevent homelessness for those on the brink of eviction.
We work with property management firms to reduce rent costs and waive security deposits.
Our case managers work closely with families across Greater Baltimore to build financial self-sufficiency in the face of skyrocketing housing costs.
In one month alone, our 211 Helpline received nearly 4,000 calls for help with housing assistance. And you can trust that we’ll help: United Way is one of the largest non-governmental funders of eviction prevention in this area.
THE NEED
Middle-class families who have lost income have had to spend down their savings or accrue debt. For families who had few liquid assets to begin with, many have found themselves unable to pay rent and many are now facing eviction or face losing their homes to foreclosure.
COVID has exacerbated serious disparities in the social and economic system that had already put millions of Americans on the brink of homelessness. Soaring rents combined with lost or stagnant wages have strained family budgets.
STRATEGIC TARGETED EVICTION PREVENTION
The Strategic Targeted Eviction Prevention (STEP) Program is a new United Way of Central Maryland initiative that provides rental assistance to households that have been impacted by the pandemic. The program is offered to targeted ZIP codes across Greater Baltimore that have high rates of COVID, evictions, and structural/racialized poverty.
RELOCATION PROGRAM
Our Relocation Program was created in response to the housing crisis worsened by the pandemic, and aligns with our other strategies to provide safe, affordable homes for those in need. This program currently assists Baltimore City tenants whose needs can’t be met by other eviction prevention and rental assistance programs.
PROVIDING SAFE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING
United Way helps prevent evictions through its 14 housing programs across the region, the STEP (Strategic Targeted Eviction Prevention) program, 211 Emergency Assistance, and its Relocation and Rent Forgiveness programs.