Coalition work in the shadow of eviction

Reflections from Clayton County, Georgia

Tabitha R. Ingle and Daniel S. Pasciuti

Published in Issue 8.1 // Updates

Keywords: Eviction, housing insecurity, COVID-19, racial capitalism, moratoria

Abstract:

This article offers a reflection from the field on a unique eviction-diversion effort; the Renter’s Emergency Subsidy for Eligible Tenants (RESET) project in Clayton County, Georgia. Formed by a coalition of local organizations and county agencies, the work began prior to COVID-19 to confront longstanding inequalities and growing housing precarity in a historically suburban community of metro Atlanta. RESET became an improvised intervention within a decentralized court system that continued eviction filings despite the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) moratorium. We discuss the possibilities and contradictions revealed through this work, among them the coalition’s ability to keep thousands of residents housed, the limits imposed by temporary federal funding, uneven nonprofit infrastructures, and the pressures of maintaining court operations during the pandemic. In examining the aftermath of RESET, we reflect on what this moment reveals about organizing for housing justice in a socioeconomically challenged, majority-Black community as emergency assistance receded and structural inequalities persisted. We conclude by considering the implications of these lessons for future housing justice work.

http://doi.org/10.54825/RRBF2231

Tabitha Ingle is a Sociologist and PhD candidate whose current research examines housing insecurity and eviction in the Atlanta metropolitan region. She engages in community-based and collaborative research with legal advocacy partners, focusing on urban governance and local institutions through the lens of racial capitalism.

Dr Pasciuti is a Sociologist who seeks to bridge academic inquiry and practical application, particularly through involvement in eviction prevention programs and housing policy reform. He regularly engages in community-based research projects where he has collaborated on a variety of initiatives at the city, county, state, and national levels.

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