{contact.first_name}, take action TODAY to urge VA legislators to keep our communities safe in their homes!

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Evictions are violence. During this public health crisis, NO ONE should lose shelter.

One of our community members, Mrs. Ahn, rents a townhouse in Burke, where she lives with her family. Before COVID-19 hit, she worked as the office manager of her husband’s busy construction company. But now, with business dropping 50% and 3 young children at home all day, she can't return to work and cannot find other paid work. They have had to dip into their long-term savings just to pay rent. Many of our community members have faced this same situation, and that is not sustainable.

According to the Census Bureau's latest Household Pulse Survey, about 1 out of 4 Asian Americans in Virginia expected a loss in employment income in the upcoming month, and about 1 out of 5 Asian Americans in Virginia had little to no confidence that they would be able to pay next month's rent.

Virginia lawmakers: STOP EVICTIONS! "I’m struggling more than ever. People are struggling. We are not only behind on rent, we are behind on utilities, and we’re trying to juggle everything at one time with no decent income. I have three kids ages five to twelve. I don’t have money for babysitters and they cut unemployment. So what are we supposed to do?" -Claudia Taylor (37), Relief counselor and nursing assistant in Richmond whose income was cut due to COVID-19. #StopEvictionsVA

Claudia is not alone in this crisis.

Our communities need rent relief now, and they need to be able to stay safe in their homes, as long as COVID-19 persists and its lasting impacts linger.

Between June 22 and August 10, when no eviction moratorium was put in place in Virginia, 4,131 families lost their homes DURING A PANDEMIC. The current moratorium ends THIS MONDAY (9/7). 262,000 households - that's 741,000 Virginians! - are at risk of eviction.

Here's what you can do TODAY to let Virginia legislators know how to best support our working-class families and community members:

STOP EVICTIONS! From 5/22 - 8/10, 4000+ families in #Virginia lost their homes DURING A PANDEMIC. @GeorgeLBarker we need you to support legislation to STOP EVICTIONS thru 4/30/2021! Working-class communities that YOU represent need you to help them stay safe in their homes NOW‼ #StopEvictionsVA

Call + email your legislator!

We've provided a sample message for you to copy + paste into an email, and to use as a phone script when you contact your legislator. We encourage you to add onto this message, especially if you and/or your loved ones will be impacted if our legislators do not take action to end evictions after THIS MONDAY, September 7.

Hello, my name is [NAME] and I live in [AREA]. As your constituent, I need you to support increasing funding for rent relief, and HB 5111. Both of these will protect renters from getting evicted while COVID-19 remains a public health & safety threat in Virginia. I urge you to support stopping evictions until April 2021, because this pandemic's impacts will last long after COVID-19 itself wanes. Working-class communities that YOU represent need you to help keep them safe in their homes. Thank you for your time.

Find your Virginia Delegate's & Senator's contact info here!

Tweet @ Senator George Barker!

Virginia Senator George Barker (D) is the Chair of the Senate Committee for General Laws & Technology, where legislation to stop evictions is currently being considered during the General Assembly's special session. The link below creates a pre-written tweet for you to @ Senator Barker on Twitter, to urge him to support ending evictions through April 30, 2021!

Click here to generate the tweet above NOW!

STOP EVICTIONS! Email Senator Barker: district39@senate.virginia.gov with the sample message: I am writing to urge Senator Barker to support legislation to stop evictions until April 30, 2021 and to fully fund rent relief. We need an eviction moratorium and rent relief to keep our families and communities safe.

Don't have a Twitter? You can email him too!

Senator Barker's email address is district39@senate.virginia.gov. Below is a sample message for you to copy + paste into an email, or you can email him using the link below!

We encourage you to add onto this message as well, especially if you and/or your loved ones will be impacted if our legislators do not take action to end evictions after this Monday.

I am writing to urge Senator Barker to support legislation to stop evictions until April 30, 2021 and to fully fund rent relief. We need an eviction moratorium and rent relief to keep our families and communities safe.

Click here to email Sen. Barker NOW!

If you or your close ones have been having trouble getting financial assistance to pay rent and/or been threatened with eviction during this pandemic, and you live in Northern Virginia, we want to hear from YOU.

Threats of eviction are widespread and detrimental in our communities, and we need our representatives to know, as they debate legislation during this special session.

Contact Clara at ckim@nakasec.org or 703-256-2208 to get involved.

With all the structural inequalities and systemic failures that COVID-19 has exposed, our legislators cannot ignore us any further. We hope you join us in action this week, and in the future, to support our community members made most vulnerable during this pandemic.

NAKASEC VA

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