Over 2,000 organizers, advocates, housing and homelessness service providers, reporters, and legislative staff attended last week’s (April 6) national call on “Coronavirus, Housing, and Homelessness” hosted by NLIHC and the NLIHC-led Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC). The call featured updates from Representative Denny Heck (D-WA) and national, state, and local advocates and services providers working to assist people experiencing homelessness, low-income households, and members of marginalized communities, all of whom are disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. A recording of that call is here. Register for today’s (April 13) 2:30 p.m. ET call here.
Representative Heck spoke about the his bill, the “Emergency Rental Assistance Act of 2020” (H.R. 6314), that would provide short-term rental assistance through the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program. Providing additional resources for rental assistance is one of the DHRC’s top priorities for the next COVID-19 emergency spending package, and NLIHC estimates at least $100 billion is necessary to meet the need for the lowest-income renters. Nancie-Ann Bodell, director of Multifamily Housing at USDA Rural Development (RD), spoke about RD’s efforts to assist renters and owners of government-assisted rural housing during the pandemic – which are described on USDA’s coronavirus website.
National partners shared updates about ongoing needs and described some of the details of the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act” (see Memo, 3/30). Tony Walters, executive director of the National American Indian Housing Council, spoke about the importance of including tribal housing programs in coronavirus assistance. Roxy Caines from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities gave an overview of the expansion to unemployment insurance and the new Economic Impact Payments authorized by the CARES Act. Mike Wallace from the National League of Cities gave a review of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding in the CARES Act and how it could be used as rental assistance. Marc Dones, executive director of National Innovation Services (NIS) spoke about NIS’s framework for equitable systems transformation for COVID-19.
Local updates were provided by Amina Kirk from the Detroit People’s Platform, who talked about the efforts underway in Michigan to extend renter protections; Lisa Hershey, executive director of Housing California, who described California’s “Project Roomkey," which is placing individuals experiencing homelessness at a high risk or showing symptoms of COVID-19 into hotel rooms; and Joshua Goldfein of the Legal Aid Society of New York, who spoke about renter protections and challenges for people experiencing homelessness in one of the hardest-hit areas of the country.
NLIHC Vice President for Public Policy Sarah Saadian provided details on the updated version of NLIHC/DHRC’s congressional and regulatory recommendations as well as a new fact sheet on Small Business Administration loans that can be used by nonprofit affordable housing providers as the COVID-19 pandemic undermines operations.
NLIHC and DHRC will host national calls on the coronavirus, housing, and homelessness every week on Mondays at 2:30 p.m. ET. Register for today’s call at: https://bit.ly/2R2Xj2f
Watch a recording of the April 6 call at: https://bit.ly/39T8UY7
View April 6 presentation slides at: https://tinyurl.com/rkyk3qt
Stay up-to-date on COVID news and housing resources at: https://bit.ly/3dwCSEm