Youth across California are calling on the state to do more to prevent their families from being evicted.
The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, or ACCE Action, is raising awareness about the thousands of children currently facing displacement from their homes if the state's eviction moratorium isn’t extended past June 30.
ACCE Action said nearly 700,000 households in California are behind on rent.
In San Diego, a 60-day extension to the county’s eviction ban was approved by the county Board of Supervisors earlier this month, giving local renters extra protection from being evicted.
RELATED: California Weighs Extending Eviction Protections Past June
Housing Now Executive Director Francisco Duenas said families with children are most at risk.
“For young people in particular, the impacts of an eviction are real and long lasting,” Duenas said.
Alejandra Mendoza just graduated from Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach.
While most seniors are able to enjoy and celebrate their final year in high school, Mendoza and her family have been facing eviction throughout the pandemic.
“All I can think about is what am I going to do, I feel like I needed to be the support system for my family,” she said. “We have been through three different eviction notices from three different landlords.”
"Fortunately we have fought two of them with the help of ACE,” she said.
As state leaders debate extending the eviction moratorium, youth across the state are urging the governor to extend the moratorium and improve the state’s rental assistance programs to make it easier for families to apply.
