AUGUSTA — Emily Barney knows how easy it is to fall behind on rent, even while working full time.

Two years ago, the single mother from Frankfort was trying to keep up with her monthly rent payments, but other priorities got in the way and she missed some. Assistance from a state pilot program helped her catch up and avoid eviction.

“It can be a slippery slope,” Barney said. “It wasn’t for lack of trying. Somehow there simply wasn’t enough money to cover everything.”

Barney joined other renters and advocates in Augusta on Thursday to call on Gov. Janet Mills and legislators to renew funding for the Eviction Prevention Program, which was credited with helping more than 1,280 households avoid eviction after it was launched as a one-year pilot program.

The Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee is considering $19 million in annual funding for the program in the two-year budget. Lawmakers last year enacted a bill to make the program permanent, but it was carried over to this session after it was not funded.

The $18 million one-year pilot program was started in 2024 to target people most vulnerable to eviction who are making less than 60% of the median income in their area and paying less than 125% of fair market rent for the area where they live. Participants can’t be living in subsidized housing or using a federal housing voucher.

According to Project Home, which ran the program with MaineHousing, 75% of people who received help made under $31,000 a year.

The program provided up to $800 a month in rent relief and a one-time payment to catch up on back rent, paid directly to the landlord. The average monthly benefit was $729 and the average overdue rent covered was $4,422, according to MaineHousing data.

Most people who applied were working and reported going without medical care and food to make ends meet. They often said their rent and utilities were going up, they had lost a job or had a change in health status, according to Maine Equal Justice, a nonprofit civil legal aid and economic justice organization that is pushing for funding for the program.

Rep. Ambureen Rana, D-Bangor, who introduced the bill to permanently establish the program, said in testimony last year that the benefits don’t stop at the household level.

“By preventing eviction, we reduce strain on shelters, health systems, law enforcement, schools and the courts which helps municipal and state budgets,” Rana testified. “Studies from other states show that every $1 spent on rent relief saves up to $4 in downstream costs.”

According to Maine Equal Justice, evictions rose steeply after Maine’s COVID-era eviction moratorium was lifted, peaking at 6,000 in 2023. Those numbers dropped after the pilot program was launched, advocates said Thursday.

Jillian Reihl, an eviction prevention attorney with Pine Tree Legal, said the program provided a critical safety net for people struggling to keep up with high housing prices. Last year, the organization worked on nearly 3,000 eviction cases.

Most people facing eviction are in that situation because one thing went wrong, such as an unexpected car repair or missing work because a child was sick, Reihl said.

“My clients have to make a devastating choice — do they pay rent or deal with an urgent need,” she said.

Andrea Steward, a Maine Equal Justice policy advocate, said the program has contributed to a 30% decline in evictions since 2024.

“We don’t have to accept eviction as inevitable,” she said. “We can choose stability. We can choose prevention by fully funding the eviction prevention program to stop all evictions for non-payment of rent in this year’s budget.”

Barney, the Frankfort woman, credits the program with helping her regain stability. Because she didn’t have to move, her daughter was able to stay in the same school and is now preparing to graduate from high school, she said.

“The eviction prevention program was there to stop the landslide when our family needed it the most,” Barney said.