‘Time ... to build a movement that pushes back.’ Lexington tenants protest evictions.

Faith Plank lost her home this spring, and she is still grieving the loss of it and the community it was a part of.

“It’s the worst feeling in the world,” she said. “That was pretty much all we had.”

Plank, 17, her mother and her younger sister had lived in the North Fork Mobile Home Park in Morehead for six years, paying $125 a month to rent a lot for the mobile home they owned. But the residents of the park were forced to move out to make way for a new development.

Unable to find a place to move their mobile home quickly enough, Plank said her mom was forced to sell it for just over $3,000. They’re now paying $950 a month in rent for an apartment smaller than their old home.

Plank said her mom “works full time, as many hours as she can to provide for our family,” but the higher rent is a stretch on a single income..

Plank shared her story at a rally against evictions in downtown Lexington Saturday afternoon.

She said she was there because she doesn’t want anyone else to go through what her family experienced.

“We couldn’t save my home, but I will fight like hell to save yours,” she told the crowd of more than 50 people gathered in the Fayette County Courthouse Plaza. “The system doesn’t work for everyone.”

The rally was hosted by the Lexington Tenants Union, which is focused on making sure everyone in Lexington has safe, affordable and fair housing.

Saturday’s rally downtown was prompted by the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a moratorium on evictions, and organizers called for the city to “stop evictions and cancel rent.”

“The LTU believes that the relationship between landlords and tenants is inherently unequal, exploitative, and unjust,” the organization said in a news release. “By working together, tenants can struggle and win for the human right of housing in their communities and stop gentrification, evictions, housing instability, and discrimination.”

Foster Petrey, president of the organization, said the group has been “growing extremely fast” since it was formed just over a year ago. He said the union provides education about tenants’ rights and has helped tenants work together to resolve issues surrounding their housing.

“Neighbors get to know each other, and then they work out a way to get their demands met,” he said.

Former state Rep. Charles Booker, who is challenging Rand Paul for his seat in the U.S. Senate, led the crowd in chants of “Housing is a human right” and “No more evictions” after his remarks.

“You’re doing the right thing,” he told attendees. “Saying your city needs to respond and put an end on these evictions is the right thing to do.”

Booker referenced his own upbringing, saying “When our car became our closet ... it wasn’t because we were lazy. It wasn’t because we needed a government handout. It’s because there’s a system that’s designed to determine who wins and who loses.

“We ain’t losing no more.”

Though the rally was hosted by the Lexington Tenants Union, several other organizations — including the Lexington branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Lexington Democratic Socialists of America and the Lexington Housing Justice Collective — were also represented.

“No one should be homeless when homes are sitting empty,” said Ashley Hunter, a Berea College student who works with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “Capitalism cannot stop the problem of housing, because capitalism is the problem itself.”

Lukas Bullock, of the Lexington Housing Justice Collective, told those in attendance that many people are being evicted simply because they don’t show up to court hearings and are not connected to rental assistance resources.

“It’s time for us to build a movement that pushes back,” he said.