Friend,

On Friday I will be two months behind on my rent. At the end of this crisis, I might be homeless. If you can’t pay your rent on May 1st, or are in solidarity with tenants who can’t, click here and sign our pledge.

Until mid-March, I worked in the cafeteria at Brooklyn College. College campuses were some of the first places to close in the COVID-19 crisis and when they did I lost my job with no notice or severance. Even before the crisis, money was tight. Rents in my neighborhood have skyrocketed over the past few years. Without a job, it’s impossible to keep up.

If nothing changes, when the eviction moratorium is lifted, I will owe three months of back rent or more with no way of paying. I know I’m not alone. Last month more than 30% of US renters didn’t pay. In May I expect that number will be even higher.

So if we can’t pay, let’s not pay, together! Click here and sign our pledge.

In the weeks since Governor Cuomo declared a State of Emergency in New York, we’ve been calling on our state leaders to Cancel Rent and invest in housing and life-saving services for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

Forgiving rent and mortgage debt accumulated during this period will help keep New Yorkers in their homes and stabilize our economy and our state. Now is the time to create permanent housing for 93,000 New Yorkers who were homeless before the COVID-19 crisis, not increase the homelessness crisis by refusing to provide tenants with necessary relief.

Sign our pledge and join us in demanding housing justice for all New Yorkers.

Best,

Dawn Miller, NYCC