Long before the novel coronavirus, poor and working-class communities of color across Florida were weathering a pandemic of multilayered oppressions. COVID-19 lays bare the systemic and structural inequities as pre-existing conditions for the most historically marginalized among us. And while housing is one of the most researched social determinants of health, effective policies have not been adopted to promote residential stability. Florida’s complicated political landscape has led to weak and fragmented tenants' rights protections and limited tools for affordable housing, which creates a structural vulnerability for the most underserved communities. In this project, the research team will study three Florida urban counties that have implemented COVID-related tenant protections in divergent ways (Miami-Dade, Orange, and Hillsborough counties), asking:
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Given the variety of local, state, and federal level eviction interventions in Florida, how effective are each of and combinations of these kinds of eviction moratoriums in low-income communities of color?
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What is the interplay between community organizing and policy interventions, like eviction moratoriums?
Florida’s history, geography, and unique communities offer a valuable case study to understand the policy, political, and environmental phenomena at play on the national stage. This study will fill the gap in evidence at the national level and aim to increase understanding of protective policy levers that could contribute to housing stability for urban low-income communities of color.