The light at the end of the tunnel continues to get brighter, but we are not out of the darkness yet.
That was an overarching theme during a May 18 presentation given to the Sacramento City Council about the City’s ongoing COVID-relief efforts and the outcomes it has achieved over the past 14 months.
“With the leadership of Council and the work of our dedicated City staff across departments and charter offices, partners and community-based organizations, the City has been able to help those most in need over this past year,” said Assistant City Manager Michael Jasso. “We will continue to provide support to our residents and businesses through this recovery.”
Following the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, residents and businesses alike had to pivot and adapt to a new environment while the City worked to ensure resources were available to assist those most in need.
Days before the State released its “stay-at-home order,” the City Council took immediate action by providing $1.1 million in relief to city businesses and residents. This included small business loans, eviction protection for economically impacted renters, support for people experiencing homelessness and emergency meal programs and childcare for essential workers.
The City then received $89.6 million in federal CARES Act funding in April 2020. Following Council direction, the City launched and expanded approximately 70 programs to help residents in need and to invest in the community.
Since then, the City has distributed more than 3 million units of personal protective equipment. It has delivered more nearly 700,000 meals to seniors in need and sheltered more than 2,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in motel rooms and trailers.
These were just a few of the outcomes mentioned on Tuesday.
During the presentation, Council members asked City staff to keep “lessons learned” from the deployment of the CARES Act funding in mind as the City looks to allocate upcoming funding from the American Rescue Plan.
Watch the video below to see exactly how the CARES Act funding went to help the community: