An $11 million financial assistance program rolled out this week to help low-income residents who have lost work as a result of the new coronavirus has already run out, surprising nonprofit workers who had just set up the program.
In a notice sent out Thursday afternoon, the nonprofit Sacred Heart Community Service announced that it had already reached the "maximum capacity" of families they could serve with the $11 million fund, and that it would no longer be accepting applications for financial assistance. Needy residents are still encouraged to add their name to an interest list in case more funding becomes available.
The pool of funding came from a combination of donations from large, private companies, the city of San Jose and Santa Clara County, with an eye towards helping those who have lost their jobs or had work hours reduced as a result of the coronavirus shutdown. The county's order closing all nonessential businesses and schools, followed a few days later by a similar statewide order, caused a sudden spike in unemployment in California.
The fund was available to families making less than 80% of the Area Median Income, or roughly $104,000 for a family of four, and who are county residents. Households eligible for the program could receive up to $4,000 each month depending on their circumstances.
The assumption was that the need was going to be high, but it was unexpected to see all the funding accounted for so quickly, said David Low, communication and policy director for the nonprofit Destination: Home, which spearheaded the fundraising effort. He said the next step is to seek more money for the emergency aid fund, but he could not provide details on those fundraising activities.
Tom Myers, the executive director of Community Services Agency (CSA) in Mountain View, said he was surprised to hear all of the money had already been accounted for so quickly. His agency's case managers had been working for the last week to link needy residents to the county's emergency funds, and he said he had no idea the money was already gone as of Thursday.
It was not immediately clear whether clients who came to CSA seeking funds from the county's $11 million emergency assistance program were among the recipients in the initial barrage of applications to Sacred Heart Community Service, which was inundated with 1,600 phone calls in just one day and so many online applications and inquiries that it crashed the nonprofit's site.
Myers said residents who are out of work and need help as a result of the coronavirus should still call or email CSA and inquire about financial aid, and that case managers will find other sources of funding to help needy residents if at all possible.
The city of Mountain View launched its own $500,000 relief program aimed at helping renters who lost income and are struggling to pay for rental hosting costs as a result of the virus, which was still available as of Friday, March 27.
Myers said CSA has already received 600 requests from people seeking rental assistance through the nonprofit, which he called an "astounding" level of demand. While he couldn't say for sure if there will be enough money to serve everyone, he said people should not hesitate to seek help just because the county's fund is dry.
"It's important that people who are in trouble reach out," he said. "Whatever is happening in another part of the county -- be sure to reach out to CSA if you need assistance."
On Friday, Mountain View police officials warned the public to be vigilant when signing up for the renter assistance program, noting that someone has been fraudulently posing as a CSA staff member and charging people money as a precondition for placement on the list for financial aid. The person is reporting using a letter with what appears to be the CSA letterhead, and is asking for $250 for a fee.
There is no fee for signing up for renter assistance, and anyone who may have information on the fradulent activity is asked to contact Sgt. Wahed Magee at wahed.magee@mountainview.gov.
Anyone seeking rental assistance can contact CSA by calling 650-968-0836 or emailing RentHelp@csacares.org.
Comments
Slater
on Mar 27, 2020 at 5:26 am
on Mar 27, 2020 at 5:26 am
So it would be fair to say the need is going to be far greater than thought possible. April 1st is going to be brutal.
Willowgate
on Mar 29, 2020 at 1:23 am
on Mar 29, 2020 at 1:23 am
Not very good at Math, are we?
San Jose and Santa Clara County leaders are not.
The voters should require addition and subtraction tests for folks who wish to make it on the ballot?
Bailey Park
on Mar 29, 2020 at 7:00 am
on Mar 29, 2020 at 7:00 am
What did they expect? Everyone loves free money and breadcrumbs, just like Googlers like free meals and other freebies.
Castro City
on Mar 29, 2020 at 11:34 am
on Mar 29, 2020 at 11:34 am
In response to Uh Huh you said:
“What did they expect? Everyone loves free money and breadcrumbs, just like Googlers like free meals and other freebies.”
You remind me of when Apollo 13 suffered the explosion. One of the crew, Fred Haise immediately assumed it was caused by his other crewman Jack Swigert. Jack having done what was ordered to do regarding maintenance on an oxygen tank, nicknamed “tanks a stir”. The result of his action initiated a defect in the tank that Jack had no way of nowing was already there. It was determined that it was tests and had a discovered fault but somehow managed to be installed in the command module.
James Lovell had the leadership quality to understand that that kind of emotional and potential violent situation was not going to solve anything. He simply pointed out to both of them that their problems were no involving that issue at all.
Uh Huh seems to be putting the blame of the current problem onto those that had nothing to do with it. The problem really is the VIRUS and the fact we were TOO SLOW to get our act together due to poor communication and response endemic to our lake or centralizes health care, and viral response that results from a “private” run healthcare system.
Uh Huh also seems to want to use this opportunity to meet out hostility towards the wrong problem as well. THE VIRUS IS THE PROBLEM.
Uh Huh is ignoring that in order for our economy to stay afloat since there is no more than $1.7 Trillion in existence it must undergo at least 90-100 transactions a year to maintain our economy. But since more than 50% of our economic system is shut down right now, the impact is unavoidable.
And since there is no end in sight people like Uh Huh are going to scapegoat anyone they can to put the blame on the situation on the WRONG source.
And now that the Fed Reserve is about to print out infinite money to try to mitigate the problem, it will make it worse, the dollar value will crash, the interest rates will be forced to go up, and the economy will be damaged even worse. The Fed has nothing to do with the problem it is the VIRUS and it cannot be fixed by printing out money or giving out loans.
Please consider this Uh Huh?
Bailey Park
on Mar 29, 2020 at 11:40 am
on Mar 29, 2020 at 11:40 am
I didn't realize I said all that. But you certainly did.
Castro City
on Mar 29, 2020 at 12:03 pm
on Mar 29, 2020 at 12:03 pm
It looks like we have a "gang" of people trying to make everyone a scapegoat.
Just see that we have 6 likes regarding Uh Huh posts.
Someday we will look back at this and say, "what were we thinking?"
Castro City
on Mar 30, 2020 at 8:35 am
on Mar 30, 2020 at 8:35 am
Another update:
Johnson and Johnson is saying it will have a vaccine to "start" human testing in September found here (Web Link)
That means it is safe to say we will be in the shelter in place order beyond September.
What are we supposed to do until then?
The State better get on track to protect homeowners and renters at least till the end of the year AT MINIMUM.
another community
on Mar 30, 2020 at 2:58 pm
on Mar 30, 2020 at 2:58 pm
Where did the money go? Not in general, but specific, amounts.
How many received $4K, $3K, 2K, etc.? What due diligence was done?
Meanwhile our property taxes are due in the second installment, next month. Any relief there?