Those who qualify must live in the city of LA and your immigration status is not taken into account

From Monday through Friday, the opportunity will be available for residents of the city of Los Angeles, financially affected by COVID-19, to apply for financial assistance to pay their home rent.

The Emergency Tenant Assistance grant program is open to all tenants of City of Los Angeles multifamily units (apartments, duplexes) who have 80% or less of the median income for the area where they reside, regardless of immigration status.

This is very good news and much-needed help for people like Claudia Vigil, who has been unemployed since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

She is a street vendor of clothing and other items, but when ordered to stay home she was forced, like dozens of South Los Angeles workers, to leave their jobs indefinitely.

“To eat I am going to grab food [a los bancos de alimentos] and I’m going with my mom to be able to grab a little more, ”said the woman, who lives with her parents and her 8-year-old son.

“My dad is disabled and with what little they give him and the few sales that I make on the Internet, with that we try to pay the rent.”

He confessed that they already owe their landlord money because they cannot pay a full rent but he acknowledges that the landlord knows the situation of the family and has given them an extension.

Vigil said he did not qualify for either the Angeleno card, which was offered a month ago, or for help from the state government since his call was never answered by the organizations in charge.

“The only thing that came to me was the Pandemic-EBT card [una ayuda para padres con hijos en la escuela] But I use that one to buy my son his food. I still have about $ 100 left, ”he said.

He added that qualifying for this new help to pay their rent would be a great relief since they could pay off part of the debt they have with their landlord.

Dalia, another street vendor – who said she got sick from COVID-19 while working in a sewing factory – said that since then she has had medical consequences, which has prevented her from even looking for a job.

“Since then I had a hemorrhage and hardly [la semana pasada] they operated on me, ”said the woman, who preferred not to give her last name.

“They never answered us at the factory, only a long time ago they asked us not to say anything that I was infected.”

Dalia said that, like Claudia Vigil, she has survived on donations and the Pandemic-EBT card sent to her by her two daughters to buy food.

He added that he owes two months of rent and that to qualify for the program this would be very helpful to remove a weight from him.

Some workers have had their working hours reduced or lost their jobs during the pandemic.

What does the aid consist of?

The program plans to help nearly 50,000 households during two months of assistance, totaling $ 2,000. The funds will be paid directly to the owners. The program will be divided into two sections: August-September and October-November.

Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez said there is knowledge of the great need of Angelenos, especially those of the poorest class who are being seriously affected during this pandemic.

“The demand will be high and will serve as a reminder that the federal government must offer millions of dollars more in housing assistance if we are to help everyone stay home during and after this pandemic,” he said in a release.

Most of the funds, $ 100 million, come from the federal stimulus money of the City of Los Angeles CARES Act. Martinez created an Ad Hoc Committee on COVID-19 Recovery and Neighborhood Investment to ensure that much of that money will go toward efforts like this Emergency Tenant Aid program.

Another $ 3 million in discretionary funds for the emergency relief effort for landlords also comes from members of the Los Angeles City Council, including Martinez and Councilmen Mitch O’Farrell, Herb Wesson, Paul Koretz and John Lee.

How does it work?

The City of Los Angeles Department of Community Investment and Housing (HCIDLA) announced that applicants should register online at hcidla.lacity.org.

Those without Internet access can call 1 (844) 944-1868 from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm until Friday, July 17.

People with hearing or speech impairments may call 1 (844) 325-1398 during the same hours.

For more information on the Tenant Assistance Program, visit hcidla.lacity.org or
Contact Sandra Mendoza with HCIDLA at (213) 361-3724 or write to sandra.mendoza@lacity.org.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here