These are challenging times for us all. All Home is focused on the impact this pandemic will have on the 35k people experiencing homelessness and the 850k Bay Area residents living on extremely low incomes. We know this vulnerable population includes seniors, people on minimum wage or with disabilities, and many of our region’s children. And we know this outbreak has already begun to disproportionately impact these groups.
In light of challenges we are hearing from our community and partners, All Home has put together this repository to highlight key resources and answer critical questions for our partners and community stakeholders to serve the Bay Area’s most vulnerable. This includes nonprofit service providers and policy makers. Geographically this is focused on the Bay Area / CA.
In an effort to avoid information overload, our goal is to curate and highlight what we believe are the most helpful resources. We will continue to update it given new information and feedback from our network of partners in the Bay Area. Please reach us with input / inquiries at: [email protected].
What We’re Working On
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, working together (at all levels of government, as neighbors, as community members) has moved beyond an aspiration and become a necessity to keep us safe. All Home’s work is predicated on working together and coordinating efforts across our nine county Bay Area. We witnessed strong leadership and regionalism at its best when six of our county public health department leaders in the Bay Area worked together with the Governor to lead the way with a first-in-the-nation, regional shelter-in-place order. Governor Newsom himself praised the “county-state partnership” that is arising out of the ongoing crisis response.
These bold actions show us that regionalism is not only important but possible, when we all work together to support and protect our community. This type of leadership, consensus and common purpose strategy is needed now more than ever in the fight to end homelessness in the Bay Area, and is what All Home was designed around promoting.
All Home in Action:
- In Partnership with nonprofits and county officials across the nine Bay Area Counties, All Home continues to facilitate rapid response regional coordination and knowledge sharing. This work helps ensure that those on the front lines and city/county officials are working in alignment to serve our most vulnerable populations: unsheltered homeless and extremely low-income.
- Regional Impact Council: While the COVID-19 health crisis has made all of our lives more complicated, they’ve also made the work of the Regional Impact Council more urgent and important.
- The Regional Impact Council (RIC) is being launched this month to address two of the Bay Area’s most vexing challenges – homelessness/housing insecurity and economic immobility for our neighbors at the lowest end of the income spectrum.
- Economic mobility and supporting small businesses: In partnership with Morrison & Foerster, All Home has created the Bay Area Small Enterprise task force to facilitate large-scale access to technical assistance and resources to help small businesses survive the current financial crisis. This work comes out of a recognition of the role small businesses play in our communities, particularly as the employers of millions of Bay Area residents. BASE Force will be hosting weekly office hours Thursdays, April 16 – June 25, from 4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Join office hours here. Password: baseforce.
- Policy and advocacy: We are actively advocating at the federal and state levels for funding and necessary policy changes for immediate COVID-19 responses related to housing and homelessness. Additionally, we are developing funding proposals for how COVID-19 emergency housing can be converted after the crisis to fill pre-existing needs in the local homeless safety net and the deeply affordable housing stock for those with extremely low incomes.
- Transitioning to long term housing & service solutions: Homelessness was a crisis in CA before the global pandemic struck, with more than 150,000 Californians homeless at a point in time. The public health emergency has highlighted what is needed and truly possible to tackle a crisis. AH is focused on coalition building that supports immediate assistance and proactive planning to make our housing and service systems more robust after the COVID-19 emergency ends. With political will and funding to the scale of the homelessness crisis, we can end unsheltered homelessness in California.
- Resource digest: Recognizing that homeless service providers and affordable housing operators are at capacity working on the front lines of COVID-19 response, AH has committed to the synthesis of research and resources to ensure that our stakeholders have a useful one-stop web resource that reduces the inundation of information to what’s truly relevant and easily accessible.
Federal Response
- Stimulus packages:
- BREAKING news: On December 14, a bipartisan group released two bills to provide $908 billion in COVID-19 relief. The Bipartisan State and Local Support and Small Business Protections Act would provide $160 billion for state and local fiscal relief, and the Emergency Coronavirus Relief Act would provide $748 billion in other assistance, including $25 billion for emergency rental assistance and a one-month extension of the federal eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read more about the bill provisions here. Read the full text of the bill here
- #3.5 (4/24) H.R. 266, Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act | Full text here
- $310B for PPP with $60B set aside for small businesses owned by minorities, women and rural areas
- $50B for SBA Disaster Recovery Loans
- $75B for hospitals and $25B for testing
- Nothing for state and local governments or food security (likely coming in Stimulus #4)
- #3 (3/25) H.R. 748, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act | Full text here
- Coronavirus Relief Fund allocation amounts by city
- National Low Income Housing Coalition Analysis of Stimulus Package #3 (Homelessness & Housing)
- NAEH webinar for service providers on federal funding. Full recording and key takeaway found here, under “Understanding & Planning for Federal Funding”
- CA State Budget Effects of Recent Federal Actions to Address COVID-19
- CARES Act Eligibility and Recommended Uses for State and Local Jurisdictions
- #2 (3/18) H.R. 6201, Families First Coronavirus Response Act | Full text here
- #1 (3/6) H.R. 6074, Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act | Full text here
- (6/10) From CSH: HUD has announced the remaining $2.96 billion in ESG funding allocations. You can view the breakdown of state and territory funding allocations here and learn more about the formula for how the allocations were awarded here.
- Eligibility for Assistance Based on Immigration Status
- note: for service providers contracts funded by ESG and CDBG, service providers do not need to inquire about immigration status
- (5/8) The second tranche of CDBG funds released. See allocation amounts by entitlement jurisdiction here
- HUD FY2020 Budget:
- Guidance on working with FEMA to fund non-congregate shelter during COVID-19 from the NLIHC (5/4)
- Memo on Providing Federal Support for Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19 (3/22)
- Proclamation Declaring National Emergency (3/13)
- Government Response to Coronavirus (general USA.gov page)
- An equity perspective from the National Low Income Housing Coalition:
CA State Response
Recent updates:
5/14: Governor submits May revision budget proposal to the Legislature – read more
5/8: Governor issues Executive Order mailing every registered voter a ballot ahead of the November General Election – Read more | Full order
5/4: Governor provides update on state’s progress towards Stage 2 reopening on Friday May 8 – Read more
5/1: Governor signs executive order on CalWORKS – Read more | Full order
4/21: Governor launches #CaliforniansforAll service inititative – Read more
4/18: Governor announces master agreement template with Motel 6 counties can use to use facilities for Project Roomkey – Read more
4/17: Governor taps California business, labor, health care and community leaders for new task force on business and jobs recovery, naming Tom Steyer as Chief Advisor to the Governor on Business and Jobs Recovery – Read more
4/15: Governor announces new initiatives to support workers impacted by COVID-19, including fund for undocumented residents – Read more
4/14: Governor outlines key indicators that will be assessed before modifying the stay-at-home order – Read more
4/13: California, Oregon, and Washington announce ‘Western States Pact’ – Read more
4/8: Governor Newsom sends letter to House Speaker Pelosi requesting 1 trillion in relief to state and local governments, bold federal action – Full letter here
Key actions the state has taken:
- Project Roomkey: Initiative to house homeless residents in hotels/motels during the pandemic – More information here | FAQs from LA County
- State-wide stay at home order: effective March 16th until further notice – FAQ’s about the order | Full text of the order
- Financial support for workers: Expansion of Unemployment Insurance | Assistance for Undocumented Immigrants |Supplemental Paid Sick Leave
- From the Judicial system: $0 bail for misdemeanors & other emergency rules to decrease prison population | All Court Emergency Orders
Summary of state response from the Governor’s Office | More here
Bay Area County Responses
4/27: Six Bay Area counties extend shelter in place order through the end of May – read the full health order here
From the National Association of Counties: analysis of the economic impact of COVID-19
Governor Newsom directed the first allocation of the $500 million in emergency funding recently authorized by the Legislature for COVID-19 related activities – $150 million for local emergency homelessness actions. To deploy this first funding allocation, the state will provide $100 million to local governments and CoCs to invest in COVID-19 prevention and containment efforts for those experiencing homelessness. Each entity’s allocation will be proportionate to the allocation it received for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program. Detail for allocation amounts here. Additionally, all requests for redirection that were requested for the $650 million HHAP allocation will be applied for this funding as well.
This KQED article outlines what each county is doing for homeless residents
- Santa Clara
- San Mateo
- San Francisco
- Information about the city’s COVID-19 Alternative Housing Program
- 4/17: Face covering now mandatory when inside businesses, public transport, or receiving medical care | Full order here
- 4/10: COVID-19 outbreak reported at MSC South homeless shelter | Read more
- 4/8: HSN distributes letter to nonprofit partners outlining updates and resources for non profits|Read the letter here
- 3/31: City budget process is delayed by 2 months – read the letter to department heads from the Mayor here
- 3/31: Updates to the Five Year Financial Plan (“Joint Plan”) | Read the full report
- General Fund Tax Revenue loss estimates:
- $167m to $287m in the current fiscal year
- $324m to $575m in FY20-21
- $225m to $417m in FY21-22
- General Fund Tax Revenue loss estimates:
- 3/16: SF DPH has provided interim guidance for medical providers caring for people who use drugs (PWUD) and need to be quarantined. The guide provides general recommendations as well as specific recommendations for various drug types.
- For the public – Health Dept. Homepage for COVID-19
- For healthcare providers – Health Dept. Homepage for COVID-19
- Alameda
- 4/17: Face covering now mandatory when inside businesses, public transport, or receiving medical care | Full order here
- Health Dept Homepage for Covid-19
- County program to provide hotel rooms for PEH to isolate and recover – Project Roomkey (4/13)
- Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless – Shelter Health Guidance
- Shelter Providers Weekly Phone Call – every Wednesday at 10:30-11:30am [Call 888-204-5984 Access Code: 710-5040#]
- 4/1: Covid-19 street outreach and homeless shelter health guidance for the area. Vast resources for both are listed.
- Contra Costa
- Marin
- Solano
- Sonoma
- Napa
Resources for Service Providers
A. For service providers’ internal operations:
- CA DPH recommended protocols for working with homeless peoples, developed by UCSF / Margot Kushel
- HUD’s Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS) invites homeless assistance providers and their partners to participate in weekly Office Hours to discuss COVID-19 planning and response on Fridays from 2:30 – 4:00 PM EDT.
- If you are attempting to assist homeless individuals to receive their Stimulus Economic Impact checks ($1200/person), the IRS has created a mechanism for non-tax filers to receive them – Information here
- The National Healthcare for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) has put together some of the best coronavirus resources for homeless service providers that we’ve seen. Link here.
- CA Association of Nonprofits Resource Guide. Like this page, has a collection of federal / state issued announcements/resources, and also contains tools for nonprofit coronavirus communications, financial planning, and teleworking policies.
- Using Medicaid waivers to improve access to care for people experiencing homelessness – from the National Alliance to End Homelessness
- Supportive Housing Providers: Resources and Guidance from CSH
- Homeless Assistance Providers: Guidance from the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (3/18)
- Homeless Shelters:
- Resources from LA County
- Homeless Service Agencies and Outreach teams: LA County Guidance (3/15)
- Residential Substance Use Settings: LA County Guidance (3/15)
- On funding sources
- NAEH held a webinar on 4/1 called “Understanding & Planning for Federal Funding” that may be helpful. Full recording, slides, and key takeaways can be found here.
- For CoCs: HUD Info on using CoC funds for the outbreak (3/13)
- For ESG fund recipients: Guide on using ESG funds for the outbreak
- HUD’s Quick Guide to CDBG Eligible Activities to Support Coronavirus Response
- NLIHC has developed a resource to help non-profit providers understand how to use CARES Act SBA funding to cover payroll and other expenses, including cleaning costs associated with helping providers maintain hygiene standards recommended by the CDC
B. For service providers to share with clients
- Stimulus checks:
- The IRS launched its Get My Payment Tool to help individuals update their direct deposit information and track when they will receive their stimulus check.
- New guidance from the Treasury Department: SSI recipients and VA pension beneficiaries won’t have to file a tax return to receive their stimulus money.
- CA state resources
- California signed an agreement with the US Department of Labor that allows independent contractors and gig economy workers to apply for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which will give people who are out of work an additional $600 per week. To apply, visit the California Employment Development website here.
- CA State Coronavirus Covid-19 Response Page (contains general information regarding what to do as a citizen, and links to benefits pages)
- The CA labor department has a table summarizing different benefit programs that are impacted by Covid-19
- FAQs on Unemployment Insurance, Paid Family Leave, and Disability Insurance at the EDD page: Applying for benefits
- Public media resources
- KQED Forum: KQED had a 1-hour show on 3/18 discussing the impact on wage workers that have lost their jobs, fielding calls from those recently unemployed, and discussing the resources available (highly recommend, also available on your favorite podcast app, search for “KQED Forum, “Economy, Shutdowns Take Hard Toll on Low-Income Workers”)
- NYTimes: Your Money: A Hub for Help During the Coronavirus Crisis
- Other
- Resources for the Latinx community during the Covid-19 crisis (by MEDA)
- Mechanism for non-tax filers to receive Stimulus Economic Impact checks ($1200/individual)
- Immediate Job Opportunities in the Bay
- Governor announced new website to connect jobless Californians to jobs. There are already 70k jobs posted (as of 4/2): www.onwardca.org
- Companies like Safeway, Raley’s, and Amazon are hiring in the midst of this crisis. See this SF Chronicle article or this one for more info (3/16)
Resources for Affordable Housing Providers
- Ask your City or County if they have access to FEMA funds. FEMA released a new policy permitting Public Assistance Program funding to be used for the purchase and distribution of food. FEMA will be able to reimburse preparation, procurement, and distribution of food to high risk individuals staying in their homes.
- The SFHAC, YIMBY Action, the BAC, SV@Home, and SPUR have collected this catalog of housing resources by city and county – most useful for specific construction updates by county
- The National Multifamily Housing Council has a great COVID-19 hub with many good resources and updates, including a rental payment tracker that shows the percentage of apartment rents that were paid each month vs. this time last year
- Since March 5, 12-percentage point decrease in the percentage of apartment households that had paid their rent – 69% April 2020, 81% March 2020, 82% April 2019
- NCSHA resources page (links to information, guidelines, and notices published by the state HFAs, the Administration, CDC, HUD and other federal / state agencies)
- HUD Multifamily stakeholder calls are being recorded as of 4/7
- Linked here is the 26 min 4/7 Multifamily Stakeholder Call recording
- To receive recordings and raise questions for future recordings, email [email protected]
- HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Issues Memorandum on Income Recertifications (4/13)
- List of financial institutions who have agreed to provide the mortgage and fee relief announced by Governor Newsom on 3/25
- HUD Multifamily Housing FAQs (updated 4/16)
- NLIHC’s resource to help non-profit providers understand how to use CARES Act SBA funding to cover payroll and other expenses, including cleaning costs associated with helping providers maintain hygiene standards recommended by the CDC
All Home Policy Recommendations
Policy recommendations (local, state, federal) to assist the homeless and extremely low income population. Due to the rapid and changing nature of the situation, this section will continue to evolve and be updated as we take into account questions and needs raised by our stakeholders.
CA Budget Proposals (Project Roomkey)
Read our Coalition Budget Letter on Homelessness here
Accelerate Opportunity: All Home Action Plan for State/Local Collaboration to End Homelessness | Full Text | Executive Summary
In collaboration with service providers and stakeholders across the state, we have published a response to the Governor’s proposed budget on homelessness. Our response strengthens the Governor’s proposed budget to ensure that 100% of persons who came inside to Project Roomkey are not forced back to the street. It accomplishes this within the new budget reality and leverages one-time federal funds with one-
time/minimal state investment on a nearly 4:1 basis. Three primary components of our proposal:
- EXPAND the types of housing that can be acquired/created with $600M CARES Act funding to take advantage of market conditions and ensure no money is left on the table by December 31.
- ELIMINATE the fatal operational funding gap that is built into the current proposal.
- INCENTIVIZE local governments to use their CARES Act funding to combat homelessness.
Our Federal Stimulus Letter to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer (7/28)
We support the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act (S. 3685/H.R. 6820), proposed by Representatives Waters (D-CA), Heck (D-WA), and Brown (D-OH). NLIHC has provided a great summary of the act here. All Home has signed onto this letter of support for the act.
This is a great framework for COVID-19 Homelessness Response from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. It is updated every two weeks and would be very helpful for local and state policymakers (5/1)
We agree with these principles from PolicyLink on COVID-19 and Race.
Joint All Home/NPH letter to Speaker Pelosi and the California delegation (4/20)
All Home is a member of NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition and fully supports their request to HUD for guidance to grantees to prioritize new CDBG funding for emergency rental assistance, instead of other eligible uses. (4/10)
All Home strongly endorses these highly technical recommendations to the Governor’s Office on mitigating the financial effects of COVID-19 on affordable housing providers (4/8)
All Home / NPH Joint Letter to Gov. Newsom re: expansions to the eviction moratorium (EO37-20) (4/4)
Housing Now! Letter to Speaker Pelosi and the CA Congressional Delegation (3/21)
Joint Letter to Speaker Pelosi Re: COVID-19 Stimulus Phase 3 and Homelessness (3/20)
All Home Recommendations regarding the State’s response to coronavirus (3/10)
FAQs
- Questions about the Federal Stimulus Package signed on 3/26?
- The NYTimes provides a good overview, particularly of the direct payment and expanded unemployment benefit components of the bill, which includes gig workers / independent contractors
- What about price gouging? How do I report it?
- The Office of the Attorney General has a helpful consumer resources page, including information on price gouging, scams, security, and student loans.
- What is happening for gig workers and small businesses?
- Here is a guide to COVID-19 relief programs for small businesses from the BASE Task Force.
- The state has launched a new comprehensive website for consumers, including guidance on applying for disability and unemployment benefits
- Coronavirus Small Business Guide from the US Chamber of Commerce
- Here is an extremely helpful resource list for small businesses from CA State Treasurer Fiona Ma
- Information for California workers and employers from the Office of Business and Economic Development
- Guidance on programs like unemployment insurance and paid family leave by the CA labor department
- What does an eviction moratorium mean for me?
- There are eviction moratoria being issued at all levels of government with differing provisions in what they cover, how long they last, and whether they apply only to non-payment of rent or other grounds for eviction.
- Federal moratorium: Applies to tenants living in certain types of federally funded housing such as HUD-funded housing including public housing, Section 8 housing choice voucher program and project-based Section, multifamily housing program, but also some housing funded by USDA, Treasury and other sources. See summary from National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. This moratorium lasts for 120 days, starting from March 27, 2020, and it requires 30-days notice to a tenant after the expiration of the moratorium before a lessor may evict a tenant.
- State moratorium: Gov. Newsom issued an executive order on 3/27/20, which will last until May 31, 2020, which prohibits evictions from all properties only on the basis of non-payment of rent if the tenant can show that the inability to pay is due to COVID-19. Other grounds for eviction may still be pursued under this order. See the full text of the order here.
- Local moratoria: Prior to issuing his statewide moratorium on evictions, Governor Newsom had encouraged local governments to take action to prevent eviction in their cities and counties. Many have issued local emergency ordinances or orders prohibiting evictions, such as San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Many of the local protections apply more broadly and offer more protections than the federal or California moratoria. We encourage you to check your local jurisdiction first to see what protections are in effect. See this summary last updated 3/27/20.
- Potentially helpful: an interactive map of emergency tenant protections across the US
- There are eviction moratoria being issued at all levels of government with differing provisions in what they cover, how long they last, and whether they apply only to non-payment of rent or other grounds for eviction.
- What can companies/ people do to help?
- Monetary donations:
- Non-monetary resources:
- Donate blood – there is an urgent shortage
- Donate cleaning supplies and PPE – nonprofits providing client care (e.g., shelters) are running out of masks, gloves, bleach, etc.
- Offer assistance to at-risk neighbors – pick up groceries and prescriptions for people who are not as able to go outside
- Stock up on supplies, then stop – ‘panic buying’ only makes the situation worse – buy only what you need for 30 days
- How is the new shelter in place order different from the old one?
- Here are the main changes (took effect 3/21, extended 4/27):
- The Order is now extended until May 31, 2020
- Social distancing requirements are now mandatory
- Use of shared recreational facilities is prohibited
- Tighter restrictions on construction
- San Mateo County provides a useful explanation of the new order here (all 9 counties have similar orders)
- Here are the main changes (took effect 3/21, extended 4/27):
- Questions about the virus’ epidemiology and public health impacts?
Research and Reports
Impacts of COVID-19 on the Housing Crisis and Local, State, and Federal Responses – from the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation
Estimating COVID-19’s near-term impact on renters – from the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation
Daily effect of COVID-19 on hourly workers at small and medium-sized businesses – from the California Policy Lab
San Francisco COVID-19 data and reports – from DataSF
Effect of COVID-19 on job losses – from the McKinsey Global Institute