[Excerpts]

Arreola has received some help from Voices United for Life, a pro-life organization. And in December, she joined online house meetings organized by the Valley Interfaith Project, a onetime Catholic Campaign for Human Development-funded organization that now advocates for people facing eviction during the pandemic.

Valley Interfaith [Project], she said, has "given me a voice."

Advocacy on eviction prevention has become an important part of this work as well. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is affiliated with The Metropolitan Organization, a CCHD-fund grassroots organization that has taken on eviction prevention work since March.

St. John the Baptist Parish in Alvin, Texas, a Metropolitan Organization member, has provided partial rental support for about 30 families in which the primary earner has lost work as industries like construction and landscaping have retrenched under the pandemic.

For months advocates in Dallas have pushed officials to distribute rental assistance funds and expand the Centers for Disease Control moratorium on evictions. Dallas Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly has worked with CCHD-funded Dallas Area Interfaith on the effort.

"It's very harmful," Bishop Kelly said of the restrictions on accessing the money. "There's no need for it either. The funds are there."

Josephine Lopez Paul, lead organizer of Dallas Area Interfaith, said work continues on empowering and educating people about eviction prevention in the hope their voices will influence policymakers to better respond to their needs.

[Photo Credit: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters]

With Evictions Looming, Agencies Furiously Work to Keep Families Housed, Angelus Catholic News Services [pdf]

[Excerpts]

Recently, Jeffco’s program has been under fire from leaders in the faith, nonprofit, service and education communities. A virtual forum was held Dec. 9, 2020, hosted by the group, Coloradans for the Common Good (formerly Colorado IAF). Pastor Reagan Humber, House for All Sinners and Saints, led the meeting. Taking the District to task for what he considered inadequate access to the program for families in need, Humber called on Interim Superintendent Kristopher Schuh to meet with representatives from the group to discuss changes. In a separate interview, he said the CCG coalition’s main concern was what they perceived to be deficiencies in Jeffco’s program in comparison to similar programs.

“Denver and Cherry Creek are open every day for kids to be able to get hot lunch,” Humber said.

While he agrees the recent expansion of hours and locations is a step in the right direction, his group is still concerned about distances between pick-up points creating long walks for kids who have no other transportation options to pick up meals.

Regarding the newly launched bus delivery routes, Humber said his group is thrilled the District has begun this pilot program, and delighted to know their efforts in highlighting the issue paid off.

He also sees issues with meals the district provides that require reheating, pointing out the need for ready to eat options for families who are homeless or living in cars.

As for the meeting between Schuh and the CCG folks, Humber said the Interim Superintendent has tentatively agreed, but no date has been set.

[Photo Credit: Glenn Wallace/Golden Transcript]

Expanded Meal Sites

Jeffco Schools Pivot — Expand Grab and Go Food Program, Golden Transcript [pdf]

Jeffco Schools Pivot — Expand Grab and Go Food Program, Arvada Press [pdf]

Additional Background Article

2020 Impact Report, Industrial Areas Foundation

Local Updates, West/Southwest IAF 

In late December, COPA leaders celebrated the unanimous decision by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors to invest nearly $5 million in a six-month Community Outreach & Education pilot program targeting neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19. This program will hire 100 community health workers -- trusted people from community-based organizations -- starting January 1, 2021. These trained workers will help educate families, as well as connect people who test positive with needed services, including temporary housing for quarantine or isolation, cash assistance, food, medical care and information about employment rights.  Workers will target the hardest hit Census tracts. 

The program proposal, created by COPA’s “Breaking the Chain” team, was based on more than 2,000 conversations with Monterey County families impacted by COVID-19, and is similar to other programs in California.  In the midst of the pandemic, leaders from COPA’s 28 member institutions launched a listening campaign in which they heard stories about the need for rental assistance; access to testing, tracing, and supported isolation; and access to education and distance learning resources.

Allies spoke in support of the proposal including Building Healthy Communities, Center for Community Advocacy, California Rural Legal Assistance, the Monterey County Farm Bureau, Catholic Diocese of Monterey and the Hospitality Industry Association.

Monterey County Board of Supervisors Approves Nearly $5 Million for COVID-19 Program, The Californian [pdf]

Monterey County Supervisors Approve Pilot Project to Help Those Disproportionately Impacted by COVID-19, KION [pdf]

Supervisors Approve Nearly $5 Million to Put Trusted Health Workers into Neighborhoods Suffering Under Covid, Monterey County Weekly [pdf]

County Supervisors to Consider $2.3 Million to Fund Pilot Program Targeting Neighborhoods Hit Hardest by Covid, Monterey County [pdf]

COPA Press Release

[Excerpts]

Grocery store workers belonging to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 made their case Wednesday for reinstating hazard pay and safety protocols during COVID-19...

Union leadership, Coloradans for the Common Good faith leaders and the family member of a worker killed by COVID-19 [jointly called] a virtual press conference to address the conditions grocery store employees throughout the state are facing.

“Leaders of CCG are here today out of our concern for grocery store workers who are essential workers and have been a particular risk during this pandemic," Marilyn Winokur of CCG said. "We believe we need to do everything in our power to protect them and our communities while they continue to work.”

Winokur noted that CCG wrote letters to both Steve Burnham, president of King Soopers, and Todd Broderick, president of the Denver Division of Albertsons Companies, to ask for a meeting to discuss the concerns surrounding grocery store employees.

Both CCG and UFCW Local 7 noted the two main asks are for stores to reinforce hazard pay and safety measures to keep workers, customers and communities safe.

[Photo Credit: CBSN Denver]

'From Heroes to Zeros': Grocery Store Employees Seek Return of Hazard Pay as COVID-19 Ramps Up, Pueblo Chieftain [pdf]

Colorado Grocery Store Workers Ask for Reinstated Hazard Pay, KOAA News55 [pdf]

Grocery Worker Union Wants Reinstatement of Hazard Pay, CBSN Denver [pdf]

Press Conference Video, [pdf]

[Excerpts]

Led by Coloradans for the Common Good, the organizations convened virtually last week, concerned primarily about the roadblocks that stand in the way of families being able to fully access the meals that Jeffco Public Schools has been distributing this fall. Problems with scheduling and transportation mean some kids and their family members may be going hungry.

“Our schools, for better or worse, have become a central part of our social safety net, and our social safety net is already deeply frayed in our country,” said Reagan Humber, a member of the group’s steering committee and pastor at House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver. “And so kids are depending even more on that food.”

Members of Coloradans for the Common Good worry that the district doesn’t operate enough distribution sites across communities so that all families in need can pick up food nearby, including those who are limited by transportation. They’re just as concerned that the sites don’t offer the kind of flexible hours that cater to families’ schedules.

...

Humber would like to see Jeffco Public Schools bus food across the community, noting that drivers have agreed to transport meals to students so that they don’t have to walk miles to pick up food. He is also urging the district to ensure a school in every town it serves offers meal distribution and that every neighborhood serving a population of students who attend a Title I school has nearby access to school meals.

[Photo Credit: Brandan Robertson/Colorado Sun]

About a Third of Jeffco Students Qualify for Subsidized Meals. There Are Fears Many Can't Access Them During Coronavirus, Colorado Sun [pdf]

Hundreds of thousands of Arizonans are in danger of losing their homes when the CDC eviction moratorium ends December 31st. Leaders and clergy of the Arizona Interfaith Network are now calling on Governor Ducey and state elected leaders for a moratorium on evictions.

"This is not just a public health issue, this is a moral issue," Rabbi John Linder declared.

Episcopal Bishop Jennifer Reddall affirmed, "We aren't set up to handle hundreds of thousands of homeless people." She and Linder are leading the network’s call on Gov. Ducey to enact a statewide eviction moratorium as the pandemic continues its surge across Arizona.

...

And in December, she joined online house meetings organized by the Valley Interfaith Project, a onetime Catholic Campaign for Human Development-funded organization that now advocates for people facing eviction during the pandemic.

Valley Interfaith, she said, has "given me a voice."

Arreola is among thousands of people nationwide who have turned to parishes, Catholic Charities agencies and Catholic-affiliated nonprofits for assistance to stave off eviction. The number of people seeking financial assistance and emotional support is staggering, Catholic officials nationwide told Catholic News Service

[Maricopa County constable evicts a family from their home in blurred out photo above. Credit: John Moore, Getty Images]

Nearly A Quarter Million Arizonans Could Be Evicted In January. Religious Leaders Want Ducey To Do Something About It, NPR/KJZZ [pdf]

With Evictions Looming, Agencies Furiously Work to Keep Families Housed, Angelus News [pdf]

Audio: Opening | Testimony by Rabbi John Linder | Testimony by Bishop Jennifer Reddall

[Excerpts]

Thousands of Arizonans could lose their homes in January after the CDC’s eviction moratorium expires at the end of the year. Rabbi John Linder with the Arizona Interfaith Network, along with leaders from the local Episcopal, Catholic and Presbyterian community, called on Gov. Ducey and the state’s elected leaders to impose an eviction moratorium in Arizona.

"This is not just a public health issue, this is a moral issue," Linder said. "So we gather today as leaders of communities of faith to call on our elected officials to meet the gravity of the moment. If a vaccine can be created in record time, we can work collectively to keep the most vulnerable in their homes."

At the beginning of the year, there were about 7,500 people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County, and public, private and faith-based homeless service resources were already strained. Reverend Jennifer Reddall, the Episcopal bishop of Arizona and member of the Valley Interfaith Project, says the religious community is not equipped to handle a six-figure surge of newly homeless individuals. She led the Interfaith network’s plea to Gov. Ducey to impose another eviction moratorium as the pandemic continues to tear through Arizona.

Linder said it's entirely within the governor's power to take proactive action to solve this crisis.

“It’s not as though resources are not available," he said. "Resources are available, it’s a matter of political will now. We’re not going to be passive here. This is a crisis as every story has made clear."

Nearly A Quarter Million Arizonans Could Be Evicted In January. Religious Leaders Want Ducey To Do Something About It., NPR/KJZZ [pdf]

Audio Clips from NPR/KJZZ Story:

Opening

Testimony by Rabbi John Linder

Testimony by Bishop Jennifer Reddall  

After 'Coloradans for the Common Good' and educator union leaders engaged their membership around the impact of the digital divide on teachers and students, they organized virtual summits to publicize what they learned and to begin to build a constituency for change.

Behind the scenes, state lawmakers began crafting legislation to address some of those frustrations, ultimately passing a bill that will provide $20 million in grants for districts to broaden internet access to their students. The monies are part of a state stimulus package developed in a special legislative session.

At its third virtual summit on the subject, the short-term stimulus was announced and celebrated. However, CCG leaders understand that the grants won’t ensure every young Coloradan has reliable access to the internet and plan to continue working for longer-term support.

[Photo Credit: Valerie Mosley/Colorado Sun]

Tens of Thousands of Colorado Kids Lack Internet Access. State Stimulus Dollars Will Only Offer a Short-Term Fix, Colorado Sun [pdf]

Colorado Special Session: Lawmakers Approve Millions to Support Child Care Providers and Remote Learners, Chalkbeat Colorado [pdf]

Access to Remote Learning a Challenge in Rural Communities, Colorado Springs Indy [pdf]

Before the pandemic, Maria Ramirez (in photo above) and her husband made more than enough money to afford their two-bedroom apartment in Dallas. Now, they owe $4,000+ in back rent and late fees. When they applied for local aid, they were denied.

"For four months, millions of these funds have wafted around the corridors of City Hall while each day vulnerable families are threatened with evictions," said Jon Lee, a retired pastor of King of Glory Lutheran Church and leader with Dallas Area Interfaith.

Texas IAF leaders across the state are working with local elected officials to spend down millions in assistance dollars that they leveraged earlier this year. Onerous online application processes and excessive documentation requirements hampered access to available assistance for the most vulnerable. Warned Rev. Michael Floyd of Central Texas Interfaith, "Families who lost employment are racking up months of unpaid rent and as eviction moratoriums end, they will be forced out of their homes."

Texas IAF leaders and allies are also calling on the Governor to draw down available funding for rental assistance for smaller cities. If not spent by the end of the year, unspent dollars will have to be returned to the US Treasury.

Says Rev. Jaqueline Hailey, of TMO, “The CDC order create[d] a welcomed pause in evictions in this area, but it is only a half-measure because all rents and late fees will continue to pile up and be due when the moratorium expires on December 31.”

...

Advocacy on eviction prevention has become an important part of this work as well. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is affiliated with The Metropolitan Organization, a CCHD-fund grassroots organization that has taken on eviction prevention work since March.

Much of the effort has focused on convincing Houston and Harris County officials to quickly distribute tens of millions of dollars for rental assistance that was allocated under the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, said Elizabeth Valdez, lead organizer with The Metropolitan Organization.

[Photo Credit: Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News]

North Texas Has Millions in Unspent Aid For Renters During the Pandemic, Yet 75% of Applicants are Denied, Dallas Morning News [pdf]

Thousands Evicted in Houston Area Before Eviction Moratorium, Rental Assistance, Texas Catholic Herald [pdf]

TMO Call[s] on Leaders to Halt Evictions, Congress to Pass Next Stimulus Bill, Houston Chronicle [pdf]

Texas IAF Organizations and Housing Advocates Call on State and Local Governments to Beat December Deadline for Federally Funded Coronavirus Rental Relief to Texans in Need, Central Texas Interfaith  

With Evictions Looming, Agencies Furiously Work to Keep Families Housed, Angelus News [pdf]