How community listening led Indiana public media news teams to respond to housing issues for renters
Co-written by Robin Tate Rockel, Indiana Public Broadcasting News and Brittani Howell, Side Effects Public Media
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated a dramatic housing and evictions crisis throughout the country, but particularly in states like Indiana where there are few protections for renters. We heard from community groups that housing instability was becoming a huge issue economically, but also from a health perspective: unhoused people cannot shelter in place, because they are being displaced, and doubling up with other people or seeking refuge at a shelter was feared to contribute to community spread.
As we began looking into this issue, we also heard that communication about emergency rental assistance (ERA) programs was not getting to the people who needed it most. Additionally, it was confusing, and small errors on intake forms could kick people out of the program even though they actually qualified for assistance. The needs were primarily information-based, and as a news organization, we felt uniquely positioned to help clarify and disseminate that information.
Identifying the need
Community advocates cited a housing crisis in Indiana before the pandemic began. Once the pandemic hit the state in 2020, Indiana put an eviction moratorium in place from mid-March 2020 through mid-August 2020, which was followed by a CDC eviction moratorium that ended in August 2021 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Numbers showed that the CDC moratorium did not have as great of an effect in Indiana compared to the state’s moratorium. One reason for this: each court interpreted the CDC moratorium differently. This resulted in inconsistent outcomes for people being evicted due to their judge and locale. It is optional for courts to notify tenants and landlords of available diversion programs like emergency rental assistance programs. It was also reported that many people who did apply for emergency rental assistance were not receiving the assistance quickly, leaving it up to the landlord’s discretion to proceed or wait on eviction proceedings when applications were still being processed. The program did not receive buy-in from landlords. Additionally, renters were widely unaware of the program. Eviction courts in Indiana were slammed by October 2021.
Indiana Public Broadcasting News reported on this topic and received many questions around that time on the topic of housing, mainly through question boxes within our stories. They included:
- Does the eviction moratorium apply to me?
- Who do I call for housing help?
- Are rental assistance programs available? I need help.
- How do I apply for section 8?
- I need help dealing with my landlord, who can help me?
- I had COVID, had to take medical leave and lost income. I’ve fallen behind on rent, where can I receive assistance?
We created an FAQ answering questions in this report in September 2021.
Other public media programming focused on this topic, including our colleagues at the statewide talk show All IN and Indiana Week in Review. The IndyStar also followed the topic and did excellent investigative reporting, which included public databases and publishing op-eds, further demonstrating the urgency and attention this topic deserved.
What did we do?
We organized a series of free, open to the public housing conversations with a few groups and informational aims in mind.
1. For people in need of housing assistance: To explain what rental assistance programs were available, how to check their eligibility, and how to apply.
2. For people who are or might be facing eviction: To share a “know your rights” presentation from Indiana Legal Services to help people understand what their landlord can and cannot evict them for, how to navigate the process of eviction, and what legal options are available if they feel like they are being wrongly evicted.
3. For people who help others: To get information to social workers, case managers and community advocates who can share what they learn with people they connect with who need this information.
Our series:
- October 14, 2021, at a library on the eastside of Indianapolis
- November 18, 2021, at a church on the westside of Indianapolis
- December 9, 2021, at a community center in Lafayette, Indiana
- March 2, 2022, virtual Zoom event (promoted heavily to cities in Indiana with high eviction rates: Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Gary and Evansville)
Three of the conversations were held in person. One was virtual, to accommodate the risk newly posed by the omicron variant of COVID-19. At each event, we distributed resource packets (compiled with input from our partners — more on that below) and emailed copies of any presentations to registrants the next day.
We worked with many organizations to make these happen. We co-hosted each event with Indiana Legal Services due to their expertise on legal rights through eviction, as well as their knowledge of ERA programs in the state. Our organizations shared a clear mission in disseminating information. From ILS, “Getting information to renters is a vital way to prevent or divert households from displacement. Additionally, when households are facing evictions, early intervention can have a huge impact on the outcome of the situation. Community events are an important way of connecting with renter households.”
We also worked with Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA). They are administrators of the statewide ERA program in Indiana. A representative from that organization presented at two of the programs and answered participant questions. For one event, the local school system helped us find a location and share information with families in their district. We made sure to include local public media stations to help us promote and tap into local community groups to help spread the word in their regions.
When people registered for these events, we asked the question: What do you hope to learn from this event? Before each event, we were able to share responses with presenters so they could add information to their presentations or be ready for questions. It was also helpful to our news team to know what information people were needing on these topics.
What was our goal and how did we meet it?
Our goal was to create a place for people to find answers to their questions about ERA programs and get their questions answered on renter legal rights through eviction. Presenters at the first two events included a housing caseworker and housing law center director at Indiana Legal Services. We did invite county ERA program administrators to present at both events, but did not get a response. By the third event, we were contacted by statewide ERA program administrators who wanted to get involved. We were eager to include them as they were able to give detailed information and address questions directly. This was helpful, because changes with the ERA programs were frequent and included county programs coming and going, dates and how many months you could receive assistance for changing, landlord involvement and response waiting periods adjusting, etc. Often ILS and ERA program staff were able to follow up with attendees in the following days when they had specific questions and concerns on their application or eviction. ILS shared, “Attendees reached out to us directly with follow up questions and for additional services. From these conversations, we also connected individuals to our intake process for legal services provided to ILS clients. Even months later, people have reached out as new issues come up.”
We created surveys following each event. We would email them out the following day. We did not receive a large response, but what we did receive was mostly positive and people shared helpful feedback for future events. From our observation, attendees were engaged at each event and asked many questions throughout the programs. 92 percent of respondents to the survey said the event resulted in a connection to a resource, individual or organization they didn’t previously have.
What we learned
No surprise: The virtual event was very different from the in-person events. We found at the in-person events, people were connecting and networking with each other and we had more people asking questions. Our partners at ILS noticed people connecting with each other as well and shared, “It’s very valuable for community members to be able to share information and resources among themselves.” One drawback was after in-person events, we often heard that transportation was a barrier for many people.
At the virtual event, we were able to target promotion in four different cities around the state. We did receive some negative feedback due to technical issues people were having, such as getting into the Zoom. We did notice that while we received many questions, they were from a smaller number of people than the in-person events.
Event RSVPs were unreliable for predicting how many people would show up. RSVPs were usually higher than actual attendance, except in one instance where the reverse was true. However, having a registration mechanism was important in capturing emails, so we could at least share the presentation and resource materials afterwards with people who registered and couldn’t attend. We did offer lunch at two events, and snacks at an evening event. Our in-person lunch events had the highest participant numbers, and were a mix of people who were helpers in the community looking for information and people who needed the information themselves. The evening event was less attended, but had a high number of RSVPs. People who showed up needed the information for themselves.
Due to people coming for different reasons, we shared presenter info and agendas at the beginning of the event. We wanted people to know that if they stayed through an ERA presentation we would hear about renter rights after, if that is what they came for. We didn’t want people to get discouraged and leave. We did see this happen at our evening event. Sharing the agenda at registration would be a good best practice. We also received the feedback that people wanted the presentations beforehand so they could follow along.
Promotion
For each event, we created a flier, Facebook page, Eventbrite page and spent money on Facebook promos for our virtual event. We sent event information to local partner stations. That included social media posts, radio promos and making sure all staff were aware of the events at those stations to share the information. We also spent a lot of time sending personalized invitations to community organizations such as churches, community and resource centers, school systems, libraries, food banks, United Ways, health clinics, social services social media groups, etc.
Event details
Thursday Oct. 14, 2021, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.:
Evictions in Indiana: Updates, Resources, & Your Questions Answered
E. 38th Street branch — Indianapolis Public Library
For our first session, we marketed our event toward “helpers” who serve others in some capacity around the issue of rent. We selected an area of the city that sees a high rate of housing difficulty and evictions, according to Prosperity Indiana’s evictions report, and selected a location that was accessible by foot as well as by public transportation.
Indiana Legal Services gave a “Know Your Rights” overview for tenants as well as an overview of available resources and the changes to the Emergency Rental Assistance funds. They held a Q&A with audience members and stayed back to talk to people independently. At least two attendees expressed that they were tenants in need of housing assistance, and one was able to connect directly with multiple service providers right there in the room.
16 attendees representing at least 8 organizations
Thursday Nov. 18, 7–8:30 p.m.:
Evictions & Rental Assistance
Lakeview Church (Indianapolis, IN)
For our second session, we worked with a local school to identify a walkable location from an apartment complex with one of the highest rates of eviction in the city. We had more than 120 people register, but only 22 showed up. Many people emailed in the hour leading up to the beginning of the event saying their rides had fallen through and they could no longer attend. We included the resource packets and a Q&A from Indiana Legal Services in our post-event email so that people who could not attend still had access to the information. The turnout for this particular event greatly informed our decision to host a virtual event within the next few months.
22 attendees and local school staff members showed up
Thursday Dec. 9, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.:
Evictions and Rental Assistance: Updates, Resources and Questions Answered
McAlister Event Center (Lafayette, Indiana)
EvictionLab identified Tippecanoe County among its areas of highest eviction/housing instability rates at this time. Because of this, and because IPB partner station WBAA had a reporter actively covering this particular issue, we chose the city of Lafayette for the site of our next session. Lafayette does not partake in the same rental assistance program as Indianapolis, so we invited Mindi Goodpaster of the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to discuss the statewide rental assistance programming. We tailored this event toward “helpers” who serve others in some capacity around the issue of rent, though several guests attended who needed assistance themselves. Attendees responded very positively to the event and our media partners, who helped us advertise information for the session, were pleased with the outcome and expressed interest in replicating something similar in the future. In their words, “There was a clear need for more assistance with navigating the guidelines, and we had a great turnout. And it’s another good method of connecting with the community/keeping people informed.” 37 people RSVP’d for this event.
41 attendees representing at least 15 organizations
Wednesday March 2, 2022, 7–8:30 p.m.:
Renter Resources: Applying for Assistance and Knowing Your Rights
Virtual
Two years into the pandemic, people were still clearly in need of housing resources, but the omicron variant made it somewhat irresponsible to gather. Additionally, our partners had expressed interest in attempting a virtual discussion to make the event accessible for people who had transportation issues. Around 50 people RSVP’d and around half attended (we learned later some had been stymied through technical issues, which we will work to improve in the future). We also learned through the course of the discussion that while many attendees were in need of housing resources due to COVID, some people who legitimately did not qualify for emergency rental assistance were still in need of housing resources, which we will also take into account for the future. One of our station partners, WBOI in Fort Wayne, IN used the Zoom recording to create a radio program for their listeners.
Around 20 attendees
We are continuing to focus on this topic throughout 2022. We hope to host more events with partners sharing information people need on housing. If you are reading this and have ideas or questions, feel free to reach out to Robin (rrockel@wfyi.org) and Brittani (bhowell@wfyi.org).
