Compiled by Richard Gaeth
FEMA funeral assistance
For those who lost a family member to COVID in 2020 (not COVID deaths in 2021), FEMA will be providing up to $7000 reimbursement for funeral expenses. This will start in April. The link is below but you cannot yet submit it. They are working to set up a dedicated toll-free phone number that can be used to apply. More information will be available on this page soon.
Vaccination Transportation
Beginning Wednesday, March 17, The Ride will provide free transportation to the COVID vaccine site at the Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Convocation Center for anyone with an appointment. Make one here at the Washtenaw County Health Department’s vaccine site.
Additional food assistance benefits announced
About 350,000 families in Michigan will be affected by this new COVID-19 emergency aid. In addition, 27,000 individuals will be temporarily exempt from federal SNAP work requirements. Learn more here. Read the full text of the House Resolution 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act here.
Michigan school children attending virtually to receive food assistance
Approximately 810,000 Michigan children whose access to school meals has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have begun to receive food assistance benefits. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is automatically issuing the additional benefits now through the end of March. Monthly payments will continue through June. This is the second time that Michigan has gained federal approval of Pandemic-EBT benefits. Last school year Michigan was the first state to qualify for federal aid. During the second round of Pandemic- EBT, children will receive up to $741.6 million in assistance benefits that their families can use to pay for food at stores or online. Learn more here.
Small business support in response to COVID-19 Pandemic
The American Rescue Plan Act provides additional relief for the nation’s small businesses and hard-hit industries for programs the SBA is currently administering and adds new efforts. Learn more here. SBA’s current relief efforts can be found atwww.sba.gov/coronavirusrelief, and more details about these program updates and new efforts the SBA will administer in the coming weeks.
How to help unhoused people get the $1,400 stimulus check. Please share.
More than half a million people in the US might not have a bank account, or a mailbox, or even a check on the way, even though they are eligible for the stimulus. Because the government uses tax information to identify and send payments, many unhoused people who don’t file taxes are left out. To learn how to connect unhoused people to online resources, advocates can visit the Get It Back Campaign, which helps eligible workers claim tax credits and use free tax filing assistance, has a number of resources for inter-and intra-community assistance, like flyers, social media graphics, and phone scripts to inform people about receiving their stimulus payments. More info in the original article here. –CNN.com