Thanks to funding from the County of Santa Clara, City of San Jose and a network of private partners, we are launching a new round of assistance for at-risk residents who have been financially-impacted by COVID-19 (You can read more about our efforts to-date here).
This latest phase, called the COVID-19 Emergency Homelessness Prevention Program (CEHPP), is designed to work in conjunction with new statewide eviction protections adopted last month as part of AB 3088 (read more). Through CEHPP, eligible residents can receive:
- Assistance to help pay off a portion of back-rent accrued during the pandemic
- Assistance to help cover a portion of upcoming rent payments
- A small amount of direct cash assistance to cover other critical needs
- Legal resources and education
- Associated referrals to supportive services, including eviction defense
The level of assistance will be based on the household’s specific situation, and the amount needed to trigger key state eviction protections via AB 3088 and ultimately keep people housed.
This next round of assistance will be administered through our Homelessness Prevention System and additional grassroots partners who will help us reach residents throughout our community.
How to apply for assistance
Our priority will be to assist COVID-impacted residents with the lowest current income and who have not received unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
Residents can apply for assistance through the main Homelessness Prevention System referral line – (408) 926-8885 or housinginfo@sacredheartcs.org – or by contacting one of the many community partners helping administer the program. Please visit Sacred Heart Community Service’s COVID-19 webpage for a list of all participating partners.
We also strongly encourage all renters to take a few minutes to learn about your rights under the new statewide eviction protections (also known as AB 3088). Our partners at The Law Foundation of SIlicon Valley have created some educational resources describing the protections available to renters impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic:
- What AB 3088 Means for Santa Clara County Residents: English – Spanish – Vietnamese
- Frequently Asked Questions: AB 3088: English – Spanish – Vietnamese
More Help Is Needed
The need in our community continues to vastly outweigh the funding we have available.
While government resources have been significant in supporting this stage of our work, private, flexible dollars are still desperately needed so we can serve more families and provide flexible assistance that cannot be funded with public money. Any additional corporate and philanthropic support will mean that more people are helped and fewer families will end up on our streets.
If you’re interested in helping assist the tens-of-thousands of families and individuals at-risk of losing their homes as a result of this pandemic, please contact Ray Bramson (ray@destinationhomesv.org) or Maia Bookoff (maia@destinationhomesv.org).