One Month’s Rent helps Howard County residents facing eviction
Fatimah Waseem Contact Reporter, Howard County Times
Copyright © 2017, Howard County Times, a Baltimore Sun Media Group publication
Since the late 1960s, a book club of local women had met monthly to together roam through the pages of far-flung tales. When the group read Barbara Ehrenreich’s expose on the challenges of living on minimum wages, they knew the story would have real-life consequences for themselves and for local residents struggling to overcome poverty. In her book, “Nickel and Dimed,” Ehrenreich goes undercover to work unskilled jobs — as a waitress in Florida and a Walmart clerk in Minnesota — to bring to life the daily struggle of surviving on earning $7 an hour.
Inspired by Ehrenreich’s book, the group launched the One Month’s Rent Initiative, a nonprofit organization that helps low-wage earners facing eviction. We couldn’t just drop it. We had to do something,” said club member Anne Dodd, chief judge of the county’s Orphan’s Court. For more than 12 years, the group has approved donations for one month’s rent or a security deposit for individuals threatened with losing housing due to a personal, economic or medical crisis.