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Housing: While there are moratoriums on evictions, housing costs are still a major concern, particularly for lower -income households who may be at risk of homelessness once the moratorium is lifted. Affordable Housing and Homelessness prevention must be a community priority to prevent increase in homelessness as housing protections are lifted. We support the proposed amendment allocating $1,310,435 to start up the new permanent emergency shelter to help house homeless individuals during COVID-19. Our recommendation would be that these investments are made in a way that addresses immediate housing needs and creates opportunities that can be leveraged in the near future to create permanent affordable housing opportunities. The amendments also include an allocation of $500,000 for an Emergency Rental Relief Fund. There is a need for such a fund in the City of Santa Ana and it is important that it is accessible to residents with the greatest need. This includes residents that are undocumented and have very -low and extremely -low incomes. We recommend the following actions: • Renew the Safely Home in Santa Ana rental assistance program to target undocumented tenants that will not be able to access the CDBG funded Emergency Rental Relief Fund to increase accessibility: • Remove the 3-day pay or quit notice trigger as evictions have been paused • Remove w-9 requirements when possible or have the tenant sign the w9 (requiring the landlord to sign the w9 adds an unnecessary barrier). The tenant can be made responsible for delivery the payment to the landlord and provide a receipt of payment to the organization running the program • Remove requirement for the tenant to prove that they will be able to pay rent the following month as COVID-19 makes this difficult • Emergency Rental Relief Fund • Make this fund available to mixed immigration status households by prorating the rental relief they can receive based off the number of eligible recipients in the household • Model the Safely Home in Santa Ana program and remove that program's identified barriers Thank you for your consideration of these critical elements of the City's response to COVID-19. We urge you to include the recommendations listed above. Your actions can address urgent, growing concerns about current affordable housing production —while promoting ongoing development of the affordable homes our residents desperately will need, during and after this crisis. If you have any questions please contact Cesar Covarrubias at cesarcOkennedvcominission.org Sincerely, Cesar Covarrubias Executive Director Working for systemic change resulting in the production of homes affordable to Orange County's extremely low-income households