Keep Gate City Housed

Over 17,000 households were impacted by evictions in Guilford County in 2025. 90% of tenants don't have access to a lawyer, leading to many having their homes taken from them in a matter of minutes. This impacts many of our families, students, people living with disabilities, and those on fixed incomes struggling to stay housed across the county.

For the last five years, Guilford County has funded the Tenant Eviction Advocacy Mediation (TEAM) Clinic to provide legal support for tenants faced with an eviction. Last year the TEAM clinic lost the $440,000 it was receiving in ARPA funds. The county and local municipalities have stepped up to provided extra funding to support the growth of the TEAM clinic.

The TEAM Clinic has been the county's most successful tool to combat homelessness and displacement. Last year, the program was able to help roughly 850 households avoid eviction or get a positive outcome in their eviction cases. At the same time, we're stuck advocating for the funding of this program every year.

We're seeking to make these eviction prevention services that the county is providing part of a permanent program that provides tenants right to counsel. With a county-wide civil Right to Counsel ordinance, more tenants would be able to access legal support to prevent evictions and stay in their homes, which would end up saving families money on court costs and moving fees. Cities and counties that have adopted a Right to Counsel ordinance have also saved tax dollars on things like homeless shelters, hospitals, and public services. Some programs have seen as high as a 306% return on their investment into Right to Counsel.

We are asking the County and Board of Commissioners to:

1. Provide the TEAM Program with the $860,000 it needs to continue providing legal services for tenants in Greensboro and High Point for the fiscal year.

2. Hold a work session to review how to transition TEAM into a Right to Counsel ordinance that guarantees tenants legal support in cases of evictions.

3. Allocate funding for rental assistance to support tenants impacted by the affordability crisis.

We're sending letters to the Guilford Board of Commissioners to show support for these asks. You can send your own to help let the commissioners see the public support for the TEAM clinic and keeping tenants housed.