Correspondence - #27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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providing us with groceries throughout the pandemic, providing healthcare to others, and more. Moreover, many of these residents are essential workers who are undocumented who have been excluded from federal stimulus payments because of their immigration status. Although some have received some funding from the state through the Disaster Relief Assistance for Immigrants (DRAI) program, this amount did not match the stimulus payments that citizens in the city received from the federal government. In addition, many undocumented residents did not apply for this program due to the well -documented history of government retaliation toward undocumented immigrants who seek public programs - for example, the most recent Public Charge issue spearheaded by former president Trump. Under the current Revive Santa Ana Spending Plan, $24.6 million have been allocated to providing direct assistance programs, including resident stimulus payments. As vaccination rates continue to increase and positivity rates decrease, residents are still significantly impacted by the economic devastation caused by COVID-19. Many still have to pay backlogged rent, continue to support their children, pay for healthcare costs, bills, groceries, funeral costs, and more. Santa Ana is poised with the rare opportunity to provide a massive economic stimulus directly to its residents. By providing direct economic assistance to residents, Santa Ana as a city will be joining a small number of local non-profit organizations that have been able to provide small financial amounts to residents. However, by allocating this money directly from the city, Santa Ana will be able to provide more funding to more residents and families, partner with local nonprofits to efficiently distribute this funding, provide an economic stimulus to Santa Ana businesses by ensuring residents use these funds within Santa Ana's businesses and grocers, and ensure that the city plays a direct role in helping residents recover from the health and economic devastation of COVID-19. We urge the Santa Ana City Council to prioritize residents' economic recovery and health b� 1. Allocating $12,000,000 indirect economic stimulus payments to the hardest -hit and the lowest -income residents through a voucher or debit card redeemable only at Santa Ana businesses to assist families most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to provide an economic boost to our hard-hit, local businesses a. Provide economic stimulus payments to undocumented residents through non-profit/city partnerships and allocate resources to ensure effecive outreach to these residents b. Provide multiple languages including Spanish, Vietnamese, Khmer, and more through the application and outreach efforts to ensure all residents in the city receive information about this stimulus payment 2. Create a Santa Ana Health Care Agency to prioritize and better serve our residents' health care needs. During this pandemic it was clear the County of Orange is not equipped to address the public health needs of our community, as evident by the challenges and slow response during its allocation of COVID-19 tests and vaccinations