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The Eviction Crisis, As Seen Through Lancaster's Social Services Agencies

Scott Morgan
/
SC Public Radio
  • This story is part of South Carolina Public Radio's continuing coverage of the eviction crisis in the Palmetto State. For additional stories, click HERE.

Social services agencies in every county of the state are going through pretty much the same thing as federal eviction protections draw to a close — a potential wave of thousands of residents, hopelessly behind on rent, about to find themselves out on the street.

The layers of the situation are many and they run deep. There are tenants who have nowhere to go, landlords who could lose their properties if they don't get rental income, and organizations trying to help get everyone the money they need to keep a flood of families from drowning their services.

And all of it plays out against a backdrop of epic failure to plan for the end of well-meaning protections triggered by a pandemic that isn't as over as so many South Carolinians want to think it is.

This installment of South Carolina Public Radio's look at the state's looming eviction crisis visits two small agencies in Lancaster that serve as a microcosm of the larger picture: The United Way of Lancaster County and H.O.P.E of Lancaster.

Both are getting by for now, but both are keenly aware that the worst hasn't hit them yet.
It's not the last we'll hear from these agencies, but the audio story above is a slice of reality that few see a good way out of so far.

Scott Morgan is the Upstate multimedia reporter for South Carolina Public Radio, based in Rock Hill. He cut his teeth as a newspaper reporter and editor in New Jersey before finding a home in public radio in Texas. Scott joined South Carolina Public Radio in March of 2019. His work has appeared in numerous national and regional publications as well as on NPR and MSNBC. He's won numerous state, regional, and national awards for his work including a national Edward R. Murrow.