Latest news with #LASCO
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
Columbus to help fund fight against wrongful evictions
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Nearly 2,000 people have received an eviction filing in Columbus over the last month, according to the Eviction Lab, an organization that published the first nationwide database of evictions. Now, federal funding that helps provide legal aid to people facing eviction is set to end, leaving Columbus to have to get creative to address the crisis without federal support. On Monday, Columbus City Council approved nearly $1.5 million to continue support for those facing eviction. That funding will help hundreds of people, just like the ones who shared their story with NBC4. Program give Columbus police recruits exposure to community 'It was really stressful. It's like I was really worried about me and my kids being homeless,' Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (LASCO) Client Meegan O'Neal said. O'Neal received an eviction notice in December. 'They were saying that I owed money for not paying rent. I've been here four and a half, almost five years, and never, ever missed paying my rent,' O'Neal said. Her landlord claimed their ledgers showed she was behind on rent, but she had the receipts to prove otherwise: five years' worth of payments. She brought those to LASCO. OSU looking for those with early Alzheimer's to participate in study 'With rising eviction rates, it's really critical to make sure that tenants have a continued voice at eviction court,' LASCO Tenant Advocacy Project Managing Attorney Jyoshu Tsushima said. They fought her case and won, as a part of the Tenant Advocacy project, which provides free legal advice and representation to qualifying tenants being evicted. 'It was relief. It was a relief. It was, I was relieved with joy,' O'Neal said. Others in eviction court are hoping for that same feeling. One family is getting help right now. 'The company terminated [our] lease because they didn't keep up the proper repairs,' one LASCO client, who asked not to be identified, said. 'Never late, never missed rent, did everything that she's supposed to do and still end up being a victim.' Columbus Anheuser-Busch brewery receives $300 million investment The program is funded, in part, by pandemic relief-era funding, which is running out, so Columbus City Council is helping to fill some of the gaps. 'Having access to counsel, having that legal representation can be the world of difference,' Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said. Part of this money is coming from the city's general fund, while the other part is the rest of the pandemic relief funding that must be spent by September. 'Having a trained attorney that has the ability to say, 'Wait a minute, this person has done, this renter has done their part,' and to stop that eviction means the whole world,' Hardin said. The money approved by council will support tenants facing eviction who have children and who are below the poverty line. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Fair housing grants next on DOGE chopping block
Ohio's largest legal aid organization stands to lose significant federal funding via DOGE cuts. Why it matters: Lost funding could render Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio unable to help people facing housing discrimination in most of the region. How it works: LASCO provides civil legal services to 36 Ohio counties, focusing largely on helping low-income residents. Programs help people obtain and keep housing, secure public benefits and fund legal cases. Those helped are often domestic violence survivors, families in poverty and people who face discrimination. Catch up quick: On Feb. 27, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and DOGE cut $30 million in congressionally authorized funding for 78 Fair Housing Initiatives Program grants, which fund organizations across the country. Four National Fair Housing Alliance members filed a class action lawsuit March 13 against HUD and DOGE alleging the cuts were unlawful. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to reinstate the grants but dissolved that order Monday, allowing HUD to move forward with cancellation of funds. Threat level: For LASCO, this would mean the loss of $425,000 a year representing about 70% of the funding for Fair Housing work, senior managing attorney Melissa Benson says. That money pays for LASCO programming and staff, both of which would suffer from cuts. LASCO receives a separate grant that covers the city of Columbus and some other small sources of funding, but not nearly enough to close the gap. What they're saying:"[Fair housing] has really become a big part of our work, and it is something we think really matters and affects the community. To not know the extent of which we're going to be able to provide these services is difficult," Benson says. Between the lines: April is Fair Housing Month, which celebrates "the advancements of equal access to housing." The other side: HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett says she cannot comment on FHIP grants because of the active legal case, but contends that fair housing enforcement is not being reduced due to the cuts. "To suggest anything else is false," she tells Axios in an email. " See here for the Secretary's recent comments reaffirming the Department's commitment to supporting the Fair Housing Act." She adds: "Funding to external entities is a separate matter from the enforcement the Department will uphold. Therefore, enforcement will not be reduced." What's next: Benson and LASCO expect continued legal challenges, but nothing has been announced.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legal aid group feeling effects of federal funding cuts
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A local organization providing legal assistance to people with disabilities is feeling the effects of federal funding cuts. The Trump Administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut a grant worth more than $400,000 a year to Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (LASCO). Now, the organization's senior attorney for housing is addressing how the lost funding will affect residents. DOGE cancels $699K OSU research grant examining cannabis use in LGBTQ+ women For many Ohioans in a housing crisis, they turn to LASCO for help – an estimated 3,000 last year. Now the organization faces the task of replacing $425,000 a year in grant money. 'Legal Aid attorneys are pretty much the only ones there,' LASCO's Senior Managing Attorney for Housing Melissa Benson said. 'If you can't afford to pay your rent, you generally can't afford to hire an attorney to represent you in court.' Benson said Franklin County and the City of Columbus provide some funding for their work, but without the grant money from U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the rest of the counties served would not have any funding. Benson said that money last year directly helped 50 people and families in Ohio avoid eviction. 'Fair housing law protects everyone,' she said. 'It protects you regardless of your race, regardless of your gender, regardless of your national origin. Whether or not you have a disability. The state of Ohio has its own fair housing protections that include veteran's status and a number of other groups. So there are a lot of people who potentially can be discriminated against.' LASCO works with people in 36 of Ohio's counties, many of them rural areas. This grant money is tied directly to representing people who have been discriminated against or are on disability. 'The issue that we get called about the most is disability discrimination,' Benson said. 'I think more than half of the calls that we receive are from people who have some sort of disability and are not able to use or maintain their housing the same way as someone who does not and need what's called a reasonable accommodation. For example, someone needing a ramp because they have a wheelchair and so they can't get up stairs.' DOGE cuts hitting Ohio farmers, food banks One story of a client Benson recalled was a woman in a wheelchair who lived in an apartment building. 'She lived on the third floor of an apartment complex, and the elevator went down, and they weren't able to, they weren't repairing the elevator,' Benson said of one case. 'And she would have to crawl down the stairs, actually, to get out and it would take her an hour to get out of the complex. And we were able to use fair housing law to get them to repair the elevator.' LASCO has already been paid for the work it's done so far in 2025 utilizing the grant money, but now it is facing a choice, continue the work already started and risk not getting paid, or stop the work already begun. 'We have to turn people away all the time because we, I have limited resources and most of them don't have any other recourse,' Benson said. Benson said a temporary restraining order in that lawsuit against HUD could restore the grant money while the lawsuit plays out, but that could take weeks. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
