COVID HOUSING ASSISTANCE
COVID Housing Assistance Fund helped 25 residents
Corte Madera Mayor Eli Beckman recently made the point that, in the same way that the COVID virus affects different people so differently, so too does the economic impact of the pandemic. For the more fortunate among us, COVID has been a mere inconvenience; for others, it has brought us to the brink of financial ruin. Nobody should have to go homeless as a result of losing their income due to COVID, which is why the Town partnered with the Corte Madera Community Foundation to create the COVID Housing Assistance Fund.
Noticing that the Town had established a COVID Business Assistance Fund to help local businesses cover their expenses, the Corte Madera Community Foundation approached the Town with an offer to contribute $25,000 toward a COVID Housing Assistance Fund if the Town would match those funds and take responsibility for publicizing qualifications for low-income Corte Madera residents to obtain one month’s rent or mortgage payments, as well as screening applications submitted under HUD guidelines. The Town agreed to do that, and also doubled the matching funds, bringing Corte Madera’s COVID Housing Assistance Fund to a total of $75,000.
There were 25 qualified Corte Madera applicants, screened by Town staff, and they each received the full amount of one month’s rent or mortgage payment in a check payable to their landlord or mortgage company. The remaining funds were augmented by another $33,000 contribution from the Corte Madera Community Foundation, which was amplified by the Town and used for a full month of housing assistance to the 47 Corte Madera applicants who qualified in Round 2. A copy of the qualifications for the assistance can be downloaded here - CM_COVID-19 Housing Assistance Fund.pdf