More than $11M in assistance planned for COVID-19 affected residents in Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County legislators, nonprofits and tech corporations on Monday announced plans for an $11.25 million financial support package for homeless and housing insecure residents facing unemployment during the worldwide novel coronavirus crisis.

The county, the city of San Jose, nonprofit advocacy organization Destination: Home, faith-based organization Sacred Heart Community Service, and tech giants Cisco, Western Digital, Adobe, Zoom Video Communications Inc., Broadcom, Micron, Facebook, Infosys Silver Lake, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation have put together a multimillion-dollar care package for locals impacted by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Monetary contributions include: $2 million from Cisco; $1.5 million from Western Digital; $1 million from Adobe; $1 million from Destination: Home; $500,000 from Zoom; $500,000 from Broadcom; $300,000 from Micron; $150,000 from Facebook; $100,000 from Infosys; $100,000 from jSilver Lake; and $100,000 from Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation also on Monday announced a $250,000 donation to the financial assistance program.

On Tuesday, the San Jose’s City Council and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will consider proposals to add $2 million each in funding for local programs to use for homeless and housing insecure individuals and families.

To qualify for the funding, applicants must be Santa Clara County residents, have a household income less than 80% of the average median income, depending on household size, and must have documentation of loss of income due to COVID-19.

This includes documentation of employment closures, impacts to health and wage losses or school and child care closures.

Eligible households can receive direct financial assistance of up to $4,000 per month, and must apply each month as long as household income is affected by the COVID-19 crisis, according to the assistance program.

Residents can apply at sacredheartcs.org/covid19, by phone at 408-780-9134 or via in-person appointment.

More information on the funds can be found at destinationhomesv.org/2020/03/covid-19-initiative.

Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.

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