More than 2,000 organizers, advocates, reporters, and legislative staff attended the weekly “Coronavirus, Housing, and Homelessness” national call hosted by NLIHC and our Disaster Recovery Housing Coalition (DHRC) on April 20. The call featured updates from 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. Register for today’s 2:30 pm ET call at: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan
Last week, Matthew Desmond, award winning author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City and Principal Investigator at Princeton University’s Eviction Lab, discussed the COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard developed by Eviction Lab and Columbia Law School Professor Emily Benfer. This policy scorecard distills the emergency orders, declarations, and legislation into a set of critical measures related to eviction and housing. Information available for each state can be found at: evictionlab.org/covid-policy-scorecard.
Elayne Weiss, senior counsel for the House Financial Services Committee, spoke about Chair Maxine Waters’ (D-CA) push for additional funding and protections for renters in the next coronavirus stimulus package. Hunter Kurtz, assistance secretary of the Office of Public and Indian Housing at HUD, gave an overview of how HUD is working to get funding out to PHAs and tribal housing authorities as quickly as possible. John Gibbs, acting assistant secretary of Community Planning and Development at HUD, provided an update on the agency’s efforts to allocate Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding and ensure grantees can use it to meet the housing needs in their communities.
Denise Neunaber, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, broke down how nonprofits in North Carolina worked with FEMA and the state government to move individuals experiencing homelessness into non-congregant shelter. Brian Wilson, executive director of the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, discussed efforts in Alaska to find sheltering locations for individuals experiencing homelessness before the pandemic reaches the state in force. Andreanecia Morris, executive director of Housing NOLA, gave an overview of how COVID-19 is impacting the greater New Orleans area. Staci Berger, president and CEO of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, reviewed the nonprofit and government response to the COVID-19 pandemic in that state.
NLIHC will host national calls on the Coronavirus, Housing, and Homelessness every week on Mondays at 2:30 pm ET. Register for today’s call at: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan.
Watch a recording of the April 20 call at: https://tinyurl.com/y6v32pfb
View April 20 presentation slides at: https://tinyurl.com/yb2y8efa
Stay up to date on COVID news and housing resources at: https://bit.ly/3dwCSEm