We invite everyone to join Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award-winning author of How to Be an Antiracist and Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, and Diane Yentel, NLIHC president and CEO, for a conversation on “Racial Equity during the COVID-19 Pandemic” on May 21 at 2:30 pm ET. Register today at: https://bit.ly/2WxbQWI. When you register, be sure to submit questions for Dr. Kendi!
Thank you to everyone who joined this afternoon’s National Call on Coronavirus and Homelessness/Housing. NLIHC’s Vice President of Public Policy Sarah Saadian provided Hill updates and outlined needed advocacy actions. John Pollock of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka spoke about local eviction moratoriums and policy interventions that their communities are championing to protect low-income renters. Trey Price of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Carol Ditmore of the Arizona Department of Housing, and Cheryl Cohen of Montana Housing discussed how their state housing finance agencies are using Coronavirus Relief Funds and other CARES Act funding to provide rental assistance. We also heard field updates from Matthew Cavanaugh of the Nebraska Housing Developers Association, Erhard Mahnke of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, and Adrienne Bush of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky. You can find a recording of the call as well as the presentation slides and up-to-date news and resources on NLIHC’s website.
Please continue to contact your senators and representatives and urge them to cosponsor the “Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act” and ensure that it is included in the next coronavirus relief package! The bill currently has 144 House co-sponsors and 35 Senate co-sponsors. Find out if your member of Congress is co-sponsoring the bill here.
Please urge your members of Congress to co-sponsor the bill, especially if your Democratic Senator has not already expressed their support! The Democratic senators who have not sponsored the bill include:
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)
Senator Jon Tester (D-MT)
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM)
Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV)
Senator Doug Jones (D-AL)
Senator Krysten Sinema (D-AZ)
Senator Tom Carper (D-DE)
Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
Amplify the needs in your communities and the importance of the bill by using #RentReliefNow, and show your organization’s support for the “Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act” at: https://sforce.co/3bzMiwu.
Additional updates below.
Coronavirus Update, Monday, May 18, 2020
Please note that NLIHC will be hosting weekly national calls on COVID-19 and housing/homelessness every Monday afternoon. Due to Memorial Day, NLIHC’s next National Call will be on Tuesday, May 26 at 2:30pm to 4:00pm ET. Register for the call here: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan
Hasan Minhaj featured NLIHC’s searchable database of most properties covered under federal eviction moratoriums on last night’s episode of Patriot Act. The show created a new website that highlights NLIHC’s database: https://www.dontgetkickedout.com/.Watch the episode, “What Happens If You Can’t Pay Rent” on Netflix!
Reminders:
NLIHC Working Groups: NLIHC is providing new opportunities for local, state, and national organizations to dive deeper into the critical issues facing our communities during the pandemic. Register for the working groups here!
We have developed a #RentReliefNow Media Toolkit to support your efforts to raise awareness around the urgent need to include critical housing resources in the next federal relief package. The toolkit includes key messages and talking points, sample op-eds, social media posts, and more.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) emphasized the urgency of passing the next coronavirus relief bill despite Republican lawmakers’ opposition. “They may think it’s okay to pause but people are hungry across America, hunger doesn’t take a pause. People are jobless across America, that doesn’t take a pause. People don’t know how they’re going to pay their rent across the country. We have to address this with humanity,” she added.
“The HEROES Act tailors aid to the hardest hit Americans, and I’m proud to have written the provision that directs a large portion of the bill’s funds toward rental assistance for those who most need it,” said Representative Denny Heck (D-WA).
Advocacy
The NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition will continue to push for a broad array of resources and protections, including emergency rental assistance and eviction prevention assistance, a national moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, and emergency funds for homelessness service providers, housing authorities, and housing providers, among other recommendations. For more information, see DHRC’s full list of recommendations, which will continue to be expanded and refined.
ProPublica published an interactive database to help renters find out if their rental unit qualifies for eviction prevention. The ProPublica database uses data from NLIHC, the Public and Affordable Housing Research Corporation, legal researchers, and others. Learn more here.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness released an FAQ on FEMA’s Public Assistance Program Category B (Emergency Protective Measures). Communities seeking to apply for funds can use the Alliance’s FAQ document and template letter.
Reporting
City Lab explores the lessons that the coronavirus pandemic can teach us about homelessness solutions. Solutions that were once deemed implausible are being enacted to expand capacity and provide safe shelter for people experiencing homelessness. Analyzing which of these temporary solutions have been effective will allow us to work toward permanent solutions to homelessness.
State and Local News
A list of local eviction and foreclosure moratoriums is available here from NLIHC.
A list of state and local emergency rental assistance programs is available here from NLIHC.
A list of local shelter closings is available here from NLIHC.
California
California counties are facing barriers to housing people experiencing homelessness in hotels across the state. Acquiring rooms, negotiating leases, managing local protests, and getting adequate staffing are some of the concerns expressed by local officials.
Dozens of community members protested on May 16 outside of a Motel 6 in Rosemead, which will soon provide shelters to people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. The protesters expressed concerns about how the hotel program, which is part of California’s Project Roomkey, might negatively impact on the community.
While San Francisco has swept homeless encampments for years, the city is now establishing city-sanctioned open-air encampments. San Francisco launched the first of five “Safe Sleeping Sites,” with the hope that people experiencing homelessness can practice social distancing in a controlled site and have access to shelters and foods.
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on May 15 requiring the city of Los Angeles and LA County to provide shelter for an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people experiencing homelessness camping near freeway ramps and under overpasses. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter gave officials until May 22 to develop a plan for providing humane housing for thousands of people experiencing homelessness living near freeways.
Colorado
Kaiser Permanent and Denver County announced a $1 million contribution to support Denver’s Housing and Homeless Services Fund. This fund will be used for coronavirus suppression efforts, including isolation/quarantine of individuals experiencing homelessness, expanded testing, contract tracing, and cleaning and hygiene supplies.
Denver is expanding coronavirus testing among people experiencing homelessness. A spokeswoman for the city announced on May15 that 299 people experiencing homelessness in Denver have tested positive for the coronavirus, and six of those individuals who tested positive have died.
Delaware
The Delaware Does More COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund released $163,000 in community investments to help 11 local organizations across the state provide services for low-income residents and people experiencing homelessness.
Health officials in St. Augustine provided coronavirus testing for people experiencing homelessness on May 15. Eleven out of the 18 people tested were individuals experiencing homelessness.
Indiana
Advocacy groups, including Prosperity Indiana, an NLIHC state partner, are urging the state to create an emergency rental assistance fund to help low-income renters. Indiana allocated money to its Hardest Hit Fund, which helps homeowners pay mortgages, but the fund does not assist renters.
Marion County will receive $8.6 million in federal coronavirus relief funding, which will be used to provide rental, utilities, and food assistance for low-income residents impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly $2.8 million will be dedicated to homelessness prevention, including the cost of non-congregate shelters and up to two years of rental assistance and wraparound services.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas appealed to the Jackson County Legislature on May 18 to receive $54,588,149 from Jackson County’s $122.7 million disbursement of CARES Act funds. Of that amount, Kansas City plans to allocate $10 million for housing assistance, $500,000 for legal aid for low-income tenants facing eviction, and $5.5 million for social services, including support for homeless shelters and housing providers.
New Jersey
The New Jersey Apartment Association expressed its support of the legislature for passing Senate Bill 2332/Assembly Bill 3956 that would establish the 2020 New Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance Program and appropriate $100 million to the program.
The program would expand the current Homelessness Prevention Program to assist low- and moderate- income families as well as middle-income residents and those in workforce housing.
New York
An editorial in the Buffalo News discusses the need to protect both tenants and landlords. COVID-19 has created a conflict between tenants who are now unable to pay their rent and landlords who may desperately rely on rental income.
North Carolina
An article in the Spectrum News examines the pandemic’s impact on homelessness in Charlotte. Although tent encampments existed before COVID-19, they are more accepted now. Advocates, like the Urban Ministry Center, are concerned about how to ensure that people experiencing homelessness can access safe, affordable housing after the acute crisis ends. Read more about the Urban Ministry’s efforts during COVID-19.
Tennessee
Nashville Launch Pad, a nonprofit that normally serves young adults in the LGBTQ community, is urging the city to house people experiencing homelessness in hotels during the pandemic. The Nashville nonprofit has expanded its program and has witnessed the positive outcomes of its efforts to house people in hotels.
Texas
The city of Amarillo is working to protect people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic by moving people out of shelters and into non-congregate settings. The Salvation Army is currently the primary short-term shelter in Amarillo, but it has become overcrowded, increasing the risk of infection. Amarillo’s Director of Community Development reported that the city has moved approximately 25 families and some individuals out of the Salvation Army shelter and into apartments.
Washington
The Olympia City Council allocated $310,000 of more than $1.1 million of CDBG funds to shelter, housing and human services programs. Of the total amount, $110,000 will fund the homeless response coordinator position, $100,000 for mitigation site hygiene, and $100,000 for the Downtown Ambassadors program. Olympia received $237,383 in supplemental CDBG funds as part of the CARES Act, as well as carried $580,000 of FY19 funds into this year. The city will gain access to $350,000 of its regular 2020 allocation in September.
King County launched a new modular pilot shelter in Seattle’s Interbay neighborhood as part of its efforts to reduce density in congregate shelters. The modular shelter offers safe housing, 24/7 on-site access to health and behavioral health care, showers and laundry facilities, and meals.
Washington, DC
Coronavirus infection and death rates reveal disparities between the city’s homeless population and its general population. As of May 13, 269 people in DC shelters had tested positive for the coronavirus, which is nearly 6% of the approximately 4,7000 people who were staying in a shelter as of January 2019. Around 1% of Washington DC residents overall have tested positive.
Wisconsin
Local groups in La Crosse are developing new partnerships to address the housing and health needs of people experiencing homelessness amid the pandemic. While many of the agencies are used to working together to address housing issues in the community, responding to COVID-19 is requiring additional collaboration.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that ensures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes.
DISASTER HOUSING RECOVERY COALITION, C/O NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION
1000 Vermont Avenue, NW | Suite 500 | Washington, DC 20005 | 202-662-1530 | www.nlihc.org
