KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — As unemployment rates spiked and families across the U.S. faced uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, Knoxville city leaders and agencies organized programs to help them pay rent and utilities.
Now, the City of Knoxville released an online dashboard showing how people requested and received help when they needed it. The information is available online and identifies areas in the city where people needed help the most. It tracks information from January 2020.
Spanish Version: Líderes de Knoxville lanzan centro en línea para seguir la forma en que los residentes obtienen ayuda para alquiler y servicios públicos
The 37914 ZIP code, in East Knoxville, called 211 the most according to information released by the city. The hotline provides people with free, confidential and multilingual information and connects them with referral services so they can get help with housing, food, health, legal assistance and child care.
Across all calls that the hotline received, most people were asking for help paying rent, according to officials. Officials said 1,845 calls were made for rent assistance since January 2020.
Most households that received financial assistance through Knoxville's COVID-19 Housing Assistance Program had extremely low incomes, according to officials. The program ended on June 30, according to officials.
The Knoxville Utilities Board also gave customers help to pay their utility bills in 2020, giving $7.56 million in assistance, according to officials. They gave assistance to more than 18,000 accounts.
On average, KUB said it gave $404 in assistance per account. Most accounts were in the 37921 ZIP code, which extends downtown Knoxville into West Knoxville.
The second most common ZIP code to receive assistance from KUB was 37914 in East Knoxville.
The online dashboard also shows how many people received detainer warrants in Knoxville from November 2020, which usually shows that a property owner intends to evict someone. In total, 659 households received a notice. Most were in the 37918 ZIP code in North Knoxville.
The dashboard is available online. It was created in collaboration with the City of Knoxville, KUB, 211 and several local social service agencies.
