Small Business Loans

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is already hurting Silicon Valley residents, businesses, and community-based organizations. Particularly hard hit are those families and individuals who can least afford a medical or financial crisis, small businesses whose revenues have fallen off, and nonprofits that are seeing an increased need for services or have had to cancel arts, cultural, or fundraising events. The Silicon Valley Strong Fund-in partnership with lead organizations and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation-will work to address these economic impacts.

Now is the time for residents, businesses, and government to partner together to help. 

Silicon Valley Strong will help three key groups:
             -Residents, with a focus on those who are at the highest risk of displacement due to illness,              caregiving, loss of work hours, and loss of income, both individuals and families with children.

             -Businesses, with a focus on small businesses and microbusinesses that are at risk of closure due to loss of clientele or health and safety restrictions.

             -Community-based organizations, including the unique needs of arts and culture organizations and the impacts to the many other nonprofits serving the vast needs of our diverse community.

Donate, volunteer and read more here. 

All San José Unified locations are closed due to the shelter-in-place order. See flyer below for locations. Schools in Santa Clara County are closed for the remainder of the academic school year. 

You can contribute to the Student Nutrition Program making a donation, tax deductible, for student meals, here. 

Mental and Emotional Health Resources 

I am very concerned about  people's mental and emotional health during this time and want to share any resources that may help  here . 

 

The following resources are available to help people who may be experiencing distress or heightened anxiety right now:

24/7 Behavioral Health Services Department Call Center: (800) 704-0900

Crisis Text Line: Text RENEW to 741741

Suicide and Crisis Hotline 24/7: (855) 278-4204

If you are experiencing an emergency please call 911 immediately.

Mental health appointments can continue. Patients should consult with their practitioners to determine whether it is appropriate and feasible to conduct individual mental health appointments remotely.

All participants in group counseling services must attend meetings remotely if they are equipped to do so. Groups should make accommodations for remote support to the maximum extent feasible. If remote participation is not feasible or advisable under the circumstances, participation may occur in person provided that there is compliance with the social distancing requirements set forth in the Order, including maintaining at least 6 foot distance between individuals and capping group size to reduce in-person interactions.

Your daily routine may have drastically changed over the course of the last few weeks. What once was a mad dash from breakfast to school-drop-off to your morning commute to the office, may now look like a leisurely stroll to the couch while trying to entertain your kids and also get some work done. If you've felt bored, uncertain, unproductive-here is a list of Blue Zones-approved activities and recommendations for how to downshift, find your purpose, and potentially learn something new during this time we are confined to our homes. Read more here . 

The City of San José Housing Department - in collaboration with the County of Santa Clara Office of Supportive Housing, Destination: Home, Valley Homeless Healthcare Program, County of Santa Clara Public Health Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - is supporting the local emergency effort to protect unhoused individuals from COVID-19 and reduce the spread of the virus. The group has developed a priority workplan to: expand shelter capacity to help more people, allow for social distancing and protect the most vulnerable; create isolation (for infected people) and quarantine spaces (for people who may have been exposed) for those exposed; and, develop a referral process for homeless individuals in encampments.

Through this emergency action effort, nearly 800 new shelter beds have been identified to-date, and the shelter plan includes a mix of locations including motels, bridge housing (i.e., tiny homes), temporary shelter beds at Parkside Hall, temporary beds at South Hall, and 104 trailers provided by the State of California and located in the East Parking Lot of the Kelley Park complex at Story and Remillard. Locations for hundreds of additional shelter beds are being evaluated this week. Our goal is to stand up thousands of temporary shelter beds as quickly as possible because a number of public health experts believe this number is needed to contain the speed of COVID-19 among the homeless community.

Today, Council will vote on reallocating funds that will build temporary emergency housing so we can house our most vulnerable residents. Our homeless residents are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. 

Portable toilets and hand washing stations have been placed at large homelessness encampments to improve sanitation and increase access to hygiene. Unhoused individuals can call HomeFirst's Homeless Helpline (408-510-7600) for assistance. Safe Parking sites are operating 24/7.

SJWC has temporarily suspended construction and meter reading activities. The suspension of these activities will further protect employees and contractors. These activities will resume once further guidance is available from the public health authorities.

For most customers with a consumption history, San Jose Water will look at their prior year's usage during the same time period to determine an estimated usage for your home. When they resume manually reading (following the lifting of the shelter-in-place order), any difference between estimated usage and actual usage is automatically adjusted on the bill.

During this time, San Jose Water is also suspending water shutoffs for non-payment and offering additional protections to customers who may be impacted by COVID-19.  Further information is available at www.sjwater.com.

Free Bay Wheels Memberships for Healthcare Workers

Officials from Lyft and the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) announced an emergency program which will provide essential healthcare workers in the Bay Area with free 30-day Bay Wheels memberships, plus waived ebike surcharges. Lyft operates Bay Wheels, which provides bike-share in the five Bay Area cities of Oakland, San Jose, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Emeryville.

Essential healthcare workers can enroll now through April 30th for unlimited 45-minute trips on both classic pedal bikes and ebikes for 30 days. There's no cost to hospitals or their employees to enroll, and the free membership will not auto-renew into a paid membership.

Read more here. Enroll here. 

Baseline COVID-19 Pilot Program

If you're in the Bay Area, you may be eligible for free COVID-19 testing through the Baseline

COVID-19 Pilot Program. Learn more here.

CDC Recommendations 

Cleaning And Disinfecting Your Home:  Everyday Steps and Extra Steps When Someone Is Sick

Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19: How to Wear a Face Cloth Covering

Safe Parking and Temporary and Incidental Shelter 

In 2019, over 6,000 people were counted as experiencing homelessness in San José on any given night and over 1,000 of them sleep in their vehicles. The City of San José developed a Safe Parking Ordinance that allows private property owners to designate their parking areas in places of assembly for safe parking. The ordinance approved by City Council in February 2019 included amendments to the Municipal Code, specifically to Title 20 of the San José Municipal Code (Zoning Code). 

The property owner does not need to obtain a permit and may design operations from hours, type of vehicles, and target population. If you are a property owner and interested in partnering with the City of San José on this important endeavor, please contact Lorena Diez with the City of San José's Homelessness Response Team at (408) 975-4456 or lorena.diez@sanjoseca.gov for more information.

Scholarship money available! The Aimco Cares Opportunity Scholarship is accepting applications for the 2020 school year, now through Saturday, April 11th at 5:00pm EST. This scholarship is directed to eligible applicants who demonstrate both merit and need who are graduating high school seniors or current undergraduates that are pursuing an undergraduate degree. You can find more information or apply here. 

The Aimco Cares Opportunity Scholarship is in partnership with the NLHA Education Fund which administers the program. More than 250 students have received scholarships to date. Funds are available for all years of college and can help with tuition, fees, books, and more. 

City of San Jose Board and Commission Vacancies 

Apply for a City of San Jose Board or Commission! Please note that list of current and upcoming vacancies is always available on our website here.