KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Members of Tenants and Allies are demanding that the Supreme Court enact a six month moratorium on evictions.   

The local group recently came together to help those on the verge of being evicted during the pandemic.

The President of the Missouri chapter of the NAACP, Nimrod Chapel, said if families are evicted during the pandemic, many of them may die. 

“If evictions are allowed to continue, we know that those deaths will fall more heavily on working mothers and children, which are disproportionately affected by evictions in the first place,” said Chapel.

In addition, Tenants and Allies demanded that Missouri Governor Mike Parson prioritizes prevention programs to help keep tenants in their homes. 

Rachel Roman, a Kansas City tenant who just recently overcame homelessness, is facing eviction again due to COVID-19. 

“All I can think about is being homeless again. I’m afraid that all of my hard work will be for nothing, and I’ll end up on the street again, this time with my baby in the middle of a pandemic,” Roman said.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas says that this movement has his full support. 

“I fully support a continued moratorium on evictions. I think it’s vital that we’re not just saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to leave tenants out in the cold,'” Mayor Lucas said.

Missouri remains one of several states that has not issued a state wide moratorium to protect tenants from being removed from their homes.