SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded Legal Aid of Arkansas, a nonprofit law firm in Springdale, a $2.1 million grant. 

The organization supports low-income Arkansans with free civil legal services across different areas. 

"With this grant, we'll be able to provide a number of services statewide," Samantha Doss, a staff attorney with Legal Aid, said. "We're hoping to serve more than 700 Arkansans in a two-year period and their families here locally in Springdale. We'll be able to provide direct representation to people who are facing threats of eviction."

Doss said Legal Aid helps with pre- and post-eviction services. 

"Before an eviction even happens, we can help folks apply for public benefits and become more financially stable so that they don't even face that sort of threat, as well as folks that have already been evicted," Doss said. 

It's the first time the HUD will use a federal program surrounding protection from evictions and homelessness. As the cost of living in our area continues to rise, the organization wants to help as much as possible. 

"Last year in Washington and Benton county combined there were over 1,300 evictions filed," Doss said. "That might not even include all of them. That's just sort of what we're able to see, and you can see there's a huge need for folks to receive legal services to assist them." 

Before receiving the grant, the organization only served Washington and Benton counties. Now, they can serve the whole state due to the grant being statewide.

Billy Cook, a renter's rights advocate, knows first-hand how legal aid can help. 

"I was facing eviction toward the end of 2020, into 2021, got in between jobs, got behind on my rent, and was served an eviction notice," Cook said. "I didn't know who to reach out to at the time or what to do."

He said friends got him in contact with the advocacy group Arkansas Renters United who put him in contact with Legal Aid of Arkansas. Cook said if it wasn't for Legal Aid, he would've been homeless.

"They were able to help me file paperwork with the court," he said. "They were able to help me get in touch with potential rental assistance programs that might be able to help me, and I was able to buy the critical time necessary to get re-employed and to get the money together I needed to pay the rent that I owed, which meant that I was not going to get evicted." 

Now, he uses his experience to help other renters learn about their rights. On average, he said about five to 10 people a month come to him asking for help. 

"This organization is so important," Cook said. "iI helps so many people in the community, and the more people who know that, the better." 

The nonprofit hopes to have this program up and running within the next few months.