With skyrocketing unemployment, workers everywhere risk being evicted from their homes. Not just in the U.S., but around the world people are struggling to pay their rent during the coronavirus pandemic.
Understanding this is crucial to Michael Munene’s work. He is a landlord in Kenya’s Nyandarua County, with around 30 low-income tenants.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit Kenya, most of Munene’s tenants were laid off from their jobs. As this was happening, he called a meeting with the occupants to announce his plans to help them get through this.
“When I called for the meeting, even though they know me well, they were expecting bad news. They thought I wanted to increase the rent or tell them to vacate and look for somewhere else,” Munene said. “So when I told them to not pay rent for four months, some started getting a bit confused because they could not understand that reality.”
No rent would be collected for the months of May through August. The tenants were in shock at his generosity. And despite the financial loss, he knows firsthand the hardship they are facing from the coronavirus.
“I found that this [was] the opportunity to help those in need because there was a time I was a tenant. So I know how it feels to be a tenant and how they struggle to pay for the rent.”
For Munene, what one has in the bank is not important. What matters is what we can do to support fellow human beings in their “hour of need.”
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It’s still the question on everyone’s minds: What’s going on with extra COVID-19 unemployment benefits?
The $600-a-week payments have ended, officially, as of July 31. For now, there is no additional federal pandemic unemployment assistance. House Democrats want to renew the $600 payments. Senate Republicans have proposed giving the unemployed 70% of their most recent salary by this October, when state unemployment offices have had time to reconfigure their computer systems to do those calculations. Until then, jobless workers would just get another $200. But, nothing has been signed into law yet.
What’s the latest on evictions?
For millions of Americans, things are looking grim. Unemployment is high, and pandemic eviction moratoriums have expired in states across the country. And as many people already know, eviction is something that can haunt a person’s life for years. For instance, getting evicted can make it hard to rent again. And that can lead to spiraling poverty.
Which retailers are requiring that people wear masks when shopping? And how are they enforcing those rules?
Walmart, Target, Lowe’s, CVS, Home Depot, Costco — they all have policies that say shoppers are required to wear a mask. When an employee confronts a customer who refuses, the interaction can spin out of control, so many of these retailers are telling their workers to not enforce these mandates. But, just having them will actually get more people to wear masks.
You can find answers to more questions on unemployment benefits and COVID-19 here.
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The landlord who stepped up in the ‘hour of need’ - Marketplace
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