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From: National Low Income Housing Coalition <npatton@nlihc.org>
Date: Fri, May 8, 2020, 3:15 PM
Subject: DHRC COVID-19 Update 05.08.2020
To: <maureenhowardconsulting@gmail.com>

National Low Income Housing Coalition

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Dear DHRC members and partners,

We’re excited to share that Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Representative Denny Heck (D-WA) announced today the introduction of the “Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act.” The bill was formally introduced in the House with 135 original cosponsors, and Senator Brown will introduce companion legislation next week with 26 Senate original cosponsors!

Thanks to all of your advocacy, this bill was introduced with such strong Congressional support. But we have more work to do. Please continue to urge all members of Congress to cosponsor the bill and tweet about it using the hashtag #RentReliefNow!

NLIHC president and CEO Diane Yentel was quoted in the press releases from Senator Brown and Representative Waters. “Even before the coronavirus, 11 million renters – including 8 million of America’s lowest-income seniors, people with disabilities, low-wage workers and other individuals – were paying at least half of their limited incomes to keep a roof over their heads, leaving them one financial crisis away from eviction and, in worst cases, homelessness. For many, this pandemic is that financial crisis.”

Learn more about the bill this coming Monday, May 11 at 2:30pm to 4:00pm ET, when Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representative Denny Heck (D-WA) join us on NLIHC’s weekly national call on COVID-19 and housing/homelessness. We’ll also share new NLIHC research on the need for at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance, discuss the unique needs of marginalized populations, and hear field updates from our partners in New Hampshire, Illinois, and Indiana! Register for the call here: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan

See NLIHC’s press release on the new legislation here: https://tinyurl.com/yaw3pddx

Coronavirus Update, Friday, May 7, 2020

NLIHC is maintaining a COVID-19/Housing and Homelessness News and Resource page here.

ICYMI – New Resources:

NLIHC released a new FAQ: “COVID-19 and Racial Equity”
NLIHC, National Housing Law Project, and National Immigration Law Center released a new FAQ: “Eligibility for Assistance Based on Immigration Status”
NLIHC released: “Guidance for Helping People Experiencing Homelessness Access their Economic Impact Payments”
NLIHC released a new factsheet: “Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act.”
NLIHC released new guidance for advocates seeking to maximize FEMA resources in their states: “Getting to Yes”

National Updates

Department of Health and Human Services

HHS’ Office of Minority Health announced on May 1 a competitive funding opportunity to provide up to $40 million for the development and coordination of a network of national, state, territorial, tribal, and local organizations to deliver COVID-19-related information to racial and ethnic minority, rural and socially vulnerable communities impacted by the pandemic.

Department of Veterans Affairs

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on May 6 that it has expanded support services enabled by the CARES Act to address the immediate needs of veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness due to the pandemic. Funding is provided for three VA programs: Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program, Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program, and Health Care for Homeless Veterans Program.

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.

The Urban Institute is examining how state and local governments can respond to the rental housing challenges presented by COVID-19. In an ongoing Housing Matters blog series, researchers are presenting evidence-based ideas for how state and local governments can increase housing stability for renters impacted by the pandemic and job loss.

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans implored that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) needs more testing for unsheltered veterans or those in transitional housing, particularly in congregate environments. The coalition also urged increased investments in programs that serve veterans experiencing homelessness, affordable housing, and long-term solutions.

Reporting
Gretchen Sierra-Zorita, a founding member of the National Puerto Rican Agenda and member of the DHRC Puerto Rico Working Group, wrote an op-ed in The Hill urging the Senate to pass the Puerto Rico Earthquake Supplemental (H.R. 5687) or include it in the next coronavirus relief bill. The Earthquake Supplemental would provide $4.89 billion in emergency spending to fund a broad range of disaster recovery activities. Puerto Rico has been devastated by three consecutive disasters: Hurricane Maria, the 2020 earthquakes, and COVID-19.

Politico discussed the need for the federal government to develop a long-term plan to keep renters stably housed after the eviction moratoriums expire. Ignoring the looming rental crisis will cost more money in the long run and keep millions of renters from safely sheltering in place.

HuffPost examined how cities across the country have started to move people experiencing homelessness from shelters into larger spaces and hotels. The article cited NLIHC’s “Getting to Yes” document in its discussion of how states can request funds from FEMA to reimburse hotel rooms.

According to an article in Nature, researchers are discovering that coronavirus outbreaks in shelters are spreading below the radar. Researchers are collecting data on the prevalence of COVID-19 and modeling its spread under different group living situations, hoping that this will guide policies to protect people residing in congregate living settings like shelters.

The Sightline Institute outlined six bills that Democrats have proposed to protect renters and workers in the next stimulus package, including the “Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act” and the “Emergency Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act.”

The Baltimore Sun editorial board examined why federal solutions to the housing crisis exacerbated by the pandemic must include assistance for both tenants and landlords.

An article in the Washington Post explored how the pandemic has demonstrated the need to treat housing as human right, not a commodity. Governments are responding by enacting measures like eviction moratoriums, rent caps, and assistance for people experiencing homelessness. These measures are steps in the right direction, but we need structural reforms to build a more just housing environment.

A Human Rights Watch article discusses how the measures that some governments have taken to acquire housing for people experiencing homelessness demonstrate what political will, resources, and a focus on both individual worth and collective good can achieve. These steps pave the way for longer-term solutions to eradicating homelessness.

The pandemic is revealing how easy it is to fall from the middle class and into poverty. For years, economists and advocates have warned that many Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and that even a slight downturn could devastate many lives.

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.

Alabama
The Alabama Department of Public Health expanded coronavirus testing criteria to include certain asymptomatic, high-risk groups and individuals. The expanded criteria include people without symptoms who are residents of congregate housing settings, such as homeless shelters.

Arizona
Eighteen people in the Flagstaff Shelter Service have tested positive for the coronavirus, including two staff members. The shelter has been serving 40 to 65 people in their main location, and another 75 people were placed in motels using funds provided by the city.

Arkansas
Arkansas nonprofits and community members have partnered to provide rental assistance to low-income renters impacted by the pandemic. Seven nonprofits have launched a campaign to help prevent families from becoming homeless by creating a donation website and a housing assistance hotline.

California
San Francisco Mayor London Breed faces growing criticism from city officials and advocates for not doing enough to move people experiencing homelessness into hotel rooms. While more than 1,000 people have been moved into hotel rooms, approximately 1,700 hotel rooms remain vacant.

Landlords in the Bay Area are still starting the eviction process and threatening to remove tenants despite California’s eviction moratorium. After a tenant who lost their job as an on-site property manager was threatened with eviction, the city of Alameda issued a press statement reiterating that state and local laws prohibit evictions during COVID-19.

San Jose City Council Members Sylvia Arenas and Maya Esparza discussed the need for a COVID-19 recovery that centers the needs of the most marginalized people in our communities.

Colorado
The Denver Department of Public Works cleaned several homeless encampments on May 7. City crews moved the belongings of people staying in the encampments into a nearby parking lot, picked up trash, and power washed the sidewalk. The city allowed people to return to the areas because of the CDC’s guidance to refrain from sweeping encampments during the pandemic.

Florida
The City of Miami Emergency Rental and Utilities Assistance Program will provide one-month rental and utility assistance to low-income residents who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. The program began accepting applications on May 4.

Indiana
Prosperity Indiana, an NLIHC state partner, and several key partners have formed the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition to advocate for housing policy solutions that ensure an equitable response and recovery to the pandemic. The Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition is focusing its efforts on making recommendations concerning short-term emergency rental assistance and homelessness prevention.
A group of 17 Indiana housing providers and advocacy groups sent a letter to Senator Todd Young (R-IN) urging him to support $100 billion in emergency rental assistance in the next coronavirus relief package.

Kentucky
Adrienne Bush, executive director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky, an NLIHC state partner, discussed the critical need for emergency rental assistance to keep renters stably housed. “If Kentucky is going to come out of this COVID-19 state of emergency stronger, then renter’s protection and rental relief have to be a critical part of the equation,” Bush said.

Michigan
More people experiencing homelessness have been moved from a Kalamazoo shelter into hotel rooms. Approximately 150 people are occupying 105 rooms at the hotel. While the hotel program is only for people not showing any symptoms of the coronavirus, Kalamazoo County has created a separate quarantine location for people who have tested positive for the coronavirus or are symptomatic.

Minnesota
The director of the Olmstead County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) announced that it will focus on developing a housing strategy to find permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness. The HRA has been working with local hotels to house veteran, families, and people who are at high-risk of severe illness.

Ramsey County allocated up to $1.8 million on March 17 to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 at local homeless shelters. The county and local nonprofits have partnered to acquire 60 hotel rooms and three meals a day for seniors experiencing homelessness and are working to acquire additional hotel rooms.

Montana
Montana established an emergency rental assistance program that will provide rent, security deposits, mortgage payments, and hazard insurance assistance for residents who have loss a job or substantial income due to the pandemic. The program, which currently has $50 million in total available funding, is funded through the state’s allocation of the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund.

New Jersey
Union City passed a measure prohibiting any evictions of residential or commercial tenants during its state of emergency, including for non-payment. Union City’s legislation would enact a moratorium on all evictions, whether the property is mortgaged or owned by the landlord.

Jersey City Council unanimously passed an ordinance (Ordinance No. 20-036) that prohibits any rent increase and any penalty for late rent payments until August 1, 2020 in all rent controlled and non-owner occupied 1-4 unit dwellings.

New York
Governor Cuomo extended the statewide moratorium on evictions through August 20. The moratorium was set to expire June 20. The governor said that he will reassess the situation once the end of August comes around.

Oregon
“The rent crisis in our county requires the kind of national response that only the federal government can and should provide,” said Chair of the Multnomah County Commission Deborah Kafoury. Kafoury expressed her support for including $100 billion in rent assistance in the next federal relief package.

Pennsylvania
An op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer examines why the city should create a jails-to-housing pipeline. The authors argue that a housing-first approach to COVID-19 would ensure that everyone who wants and needs housing would have access to it.

Texas
Rental assistance programs in Texas are unable to meet the overwhelming demand for financial assistance needed to prevent a wave of evictions and homelessness. Most Texas cities are not offering this support, and for the cities that do, the money is running out quickly.

The Houston City Council approved a proposal introduced by Mayor Sylvester Turner to allocate $15 million for emergency rental assistance. The program, which will use federal relief funding, will be managed by a local nonprofit and is anticipated to help at least 6,818 Houston residents.

Utah
Utah advocates have expanded their efforts to test people experiencing homelessness, low-income renters, and Latino community members for the coronavirus. The Midtown Community Health Center, which operates clinics and shelters, is pre-screening individuals before they enter the shelter and has begun drive-thru testing.

West Virginia
Across West Virginia, advocates are mobilizing to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness amid the pandemic. The West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, an NLIHC state partner, has been leading efforts to ensure that shelters have the supplies needed to protect their residents and to keep people living in encampments safe. Advocates hope that the crisis will shine a light on the state’s homelessness crisis and encourage communities to pursue long-term solutions.

Guidance

Corporation for Sustainable Housing
Register for the Upcoming Webinar: The Supportive Housing Field Responds to COVID-19 - May 12, 2020 at 1:00 PM EDT

Department of Agriculture
Actions Taken by USDA Rural Development to Help Rural Residents, Businesses, and Communities Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic - May 4, 2020

Department of Housing and Urban Development
IDIS Instructions for CDBG-CV, ESG-CV, and HOPWA-CV for Setting Up a Substantial Amendment for CARES Act Funding

Department of Labor
COVID-19 Dislocated Worker Grants

FEMA
Fact Sheet: How to Appeal FEMA’s Decision on Eligibility - May 7, 2020
Fact Sheet: Federal Support to Expand National Testing Capabilities - Updated May 6, 2020

New State and Local Resources
Massachusetts Department of Public Health: COVID-19 and Homelessness: The Massachusetts Response

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
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