Virginia will award $2.6 million in grants to help prevent evictions in highly needed areas, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday.

Funding will help build capacity and implement eviction prevention and diversion programs created to address underlying causes of eviction. Money will go to the 14 localities the state identified as having the highest eviction rates. The grants will be awarded through a new pilot program called the Virginia Eviction Reduction Pilot (VERP) Program.

“The affordable housing crisis predates the COVID-19 pandemic and we have to address the underlying causes of evictions if we want to emerge stronger and continue moving Virginia forward,” Northam said in a statement. “This pilot program will implement targeted, equitable solutions to help improve the overall resilience of our communities and strengthen local capacity to deliver eviction prevention services now and into the future.”