Allen County to receive grant money as part of nationwide eviction diversion program

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - Help is on the way for people who are struggling to make ends meet as Americans deal with record setting inflation.

Allen Superior Court announced a new eviction diversion program Wednesday afternoon. It’s part of a partnership with several community organizations.

“We are so very pleased to announce that Allen Superior Court was selected as one of 13 jurisdictions to receive an eviction diversion grant,” Chief Judge Jennifer DeGroote said.

According to the National Center for State Courts, more than $10 million dollars will be given out and Allen County will get $164,000 of that.

“We’ve often seen evictions and how they impact tenants who have to be displaced and how that can contribute to health issues, employment issues and educational issues for their children,” DeGroote said.

At Wednesday’s announcement, community leaders said they were excited about this grant. They say they’ve seen a surge in people who are unable to pay rent, which is probably no surprise to you considering nationwide inflation.

“What you see with our partnership and what we’ve been able to do is to secure justice for all the people in our community,” Rev. Joshua Gale said. “That is our goal and that is how we change the situation in our area for generations.”

Nationwide, the $10 million will be split between communities in seven other states and Washington D.C.

“Some of the first steps people want to take is to ignore it and not come to court and just get defaulted,” Degroote said. “Please don’t do that. Come to court. We have folks there from our community partners who are willing to help folks work through things.”

For more information on the program, head to the website for the National Center for State Courts.

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