Baltimore’s Board of Estimates approved Wednesday a $30 million rental assistance package aimed at staving off an eviction crisis.

The move came two days after courts in Maryland began hearing eviction cases and the day after the Centers for Disease Control issued a national moratorium on evictions.

Mayor Jack Young said at a morning news conference the Board of Estimates package cobbles together federal state and local funds to help tenants pay past due rent and utility bills and help landlords make their mortgage payments.

“Together,” he said, “we can prevent thousands of evictions and avoid a future of homelessness residents in the months to come.”

Acting City Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy said the help comes none too soon.

“With the economic impact of COVID continuing and (rental) delinquency rates standing at more than twice the normal level among renters who do not receive any housing subsidy, it is clear we need to bring relief,” she said.

Young said the program will start in late September and renters can get more information at bmorechildren.com.