Delco to begin distributing $37M in rental assistance
About 5,000 Delaware County renters facing trouble paying their rent and even eviction will be receiving $37 million or six months’ of rent plus utilities by the end of September through the Emergency Assistance Rental Program.
Delaware County Council approved a $2.5 million contract with Philadelphiabased Capital Access Inc. to administer the $37 million Emergency Assistance Rental Program and to provide program management software for distributing those funds. County Executive Director Howard Lazarus will be approving the transfer of funds for this program.
The county is on track to receive $16.8 million from the federal 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act and $20.3 million from Pennsylvania Act 1 allocations.
“The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance to individuals who rent their homes and have run into problems because of COVID,” Delaware County Solicitor William Martin explained. “The monies will be utilized to pay past due rent, past due utilities, up to three months of prospective rent in order to make sure that renters are not subject to eviction ejectment and the problems of homelessness.”
Participants have to meet salary requirements of 50 percent or less of the county’s salary median. According to the U.S. Census, Delaware County’s household median salary was $74,477 in 2019.
Martin explained county representatives have been communicating with the
Court of Common Pleas so that landlords who have filed cases on or before Jan.
31 are notified that representatives will be reaching out to them to try to resolve the rental issues.
“We think that there both is a value to the county in clearing the court docket,” he said. “There is probably
800 to 1,000 cases of ejectment proceedings pending in both the magistrate court levels and the Common Pleas levels.”
Jeremey Newberg, CEO of Capital Access, Inc., said he’s anticipating funding three months of past due rent, three months in future rent and some utilities for about 5,000 for approximately $7,000 each.
“What we’re trying to do is bring as much efficiency to the model,” he said, adding that his company has run four COVID relief programs last year in Florida.
Newberg explained that the application for the rent relief program will be online and the primary elements for that will be that the person suffered significant financial loss due to COVID, that they’re a resident of Delaware County and the salary requirements, or that someone in the household has been unemployed for at least
90 days. When needed, he said in-person applications are an option for those with language or physical disability issues.
Sandra Garrison, director of Delaware County’s Human Services Department, said she’d like to have on-site application capacity at their Upper Darby and Eddystone offices to have representation at different ends of the county.
Garrison said she reached out to Multi-Cultural Family Services to prepare to reach out to the Delaware County Immigrant Coalition
for input in how best to reach that population.
In addition, she said her staff have talked about reaching out to the landlords, going to food pickups and registering people there, as well as working with the church community.
“The idea is to get as much of the information out there as possible and make sure that people can apply,” she said, adding that those who don’t have a computer or Internet have equitable access to the program through on-site, in-person offerings.
“The language barrier is very real in some of the communities where this is going to be most needed,” County Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer said. “In Upper Darby, there are 75 languages spoken.”
She expressed a concern for the significant number of workers are cash economy employees and the challenges in trying to reach some of those who need this program most.
“I think you’re going to need a lot of people on the ground to reach these recipients,” Schaefer said, adding that helping them access this program will be key.
Newberg said Capital Access will be making connections with community partners from elected officials to non-profit organizations to everyday people who help other people. He said he would pay fees for service for community service organizations for translation services.
He added that Capital Access case managers, a third of whom speak Spanish, will do verification reviews of residence and income levels. When documentation is not available, Newberg said they will document three efforts to get it, then rely on self-certification, which will be the application itself.
Martin said that county representatives have also reached out to Legal Aid of Delaware County, since they are representing tenants in many of these cases.
Newberg explained the payments will be made either by direct deposit or by a bank check.
“This is going to be a heavy lift,” he said, “because we want to get all of the money out by the end of September ... We are going to make people whole.”
County Councilwoman Christine Reuther explained why council was hiring Capital Access.
“These are very substantial sums of money and it is appropriate to ... have somebody who’s on the ground who’s in a position to approve the amounts that have to be transferred and paid out because it can be very difficult to get council members together to do this and to do this on a bi-weekly basis may not be helpful to people who need help,” she said.
She added that the scope of the authority being given to Capital Access needs to be clearly defined accompanied by regular reports to council. Newberg said council will be receiving Excel sheets on the recipients and amounts.
County Council Chairman Brian Zidek said the money is coming to Delaware County quickly and it needs to be dispersed or they forfeit it.
“I’m certainly in favor of this and look forward to getting this much needed relief out to folks,” he said.
“The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance to individuals who rent their homes and have run into problems because of COVID. The monies will be utilized to pay past due rent, past due utilities, up to three months of prospective rent in order to make sure that renters are not subject to eviction ejectment and the problems of homelessness.”
— Delaware County Solicitor William Martin
I do not like green eggs
and ham
I do not like their colors,
ma’am
I only sup on rainbow
fish
I like a multi-colored
dish
I will not swallow things
too white
But chocolate milk is a
delight
And Black-eyed peas are
really nice
I’ll eat them ma’am
I’ll eat them twice I think the thing that
matters most Is making people not feel
gross
And saying what they want to hear
For if we don’t They’ll surely sneer So even though I will
not eat
Green eggs and ham I’ll say they’re neat Because I do not want
to be
The Grinch who stole
Diversity.
Dr. Seuss might not appreciate my rhyming skills, but I would at least hope he’d recognize the irony in my ode to inclusion. The legendary author, whose birthday was this week, spent a lifetime teaching children about the importance of accepting those who were different, of avoiding bullying, of opening our arms to those who looked, sounded, and acted differently from people in our comfort zone. For children, he was a safe haven, a kindly guide through the often complicated, sometimes challenging, always memorable days of awakening.
And in spite of that, some of his books have now been placed on the “canceled list,” because of pressures from the cultural left, which fears that little children will perceive the same racism in his fanciful illustrations as their triggered guardians have
now done.
Another case of, “This must be a joke. What? They’re serious? OMG.”
For adults, especially those who were his contemporaries, Theodore Geisel was a man who railed against the exclusionary, xenophobic tendencies of his countrymen during World War II. While “patriots” like Charles Lindbergh and, for a time, FDR, were opposed to entering the war because of a desire to isolate the United States against impending danger (and in the case of Lucky Lindy, a fascination with Nazis), Geisel wrote editorial cartoons supporting the war effort and urging Americans to buy war bonds. While some of those cartoons contained certain ethnic tropes of Asians (we were fighting the Japanese) they also depicted
the
German enemy as Nazi
“beasts.”
According to the History website, “Having dabbled in political cartoons during the 1930s, Geisel felt compelled to put his projects for young readers aside and brandish his pen to fire satirical shots at Adolf Hitler and American isolationists such as aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh who wanted to keep the country out of the war in Europe.”
Again, some of his cartoons, particularly the ones about the Japanese, used racial stereotypes that would never be accepted today in mainstream literature. But
this was wartime propaganda, and needs to be examined in that context.
And that is exactly what should be done when it comes to children’s literature, as well.
Some of the illustrations in six books that the Seuss foundation has decided to throw down the memory hole contained pictures that might, if you stretch the point, make some adults uncomfortable, including coloring some Asian characters in bright yellow.
But it is hard to believe that children would be perceptive enough (translated as “looking for racism enough”) to be offended by what are, essentially, cartoon characters. And this idea that we need to scrub old texts to make sure that even the most delicate soupcon
of offensive non-P.C. material must be hidden is the quiet second-cousin of censorship.
To put it another way, trying to make sure that nothing offends anyone ever at any given time is assuring that there will never be any authentic, original, important, suggestive, intriguing, thought-provoking material produced. It will all be “nice.” It will all be uniform. It will all be safe, although not the safety that children really deserve because it will fool them into thinking that the world is filled with sunshine and lollipops.
It isn’t. Dr. Seuss knew that, especially after his experience with war, and was attempting in his own way to prepare children for the cruelties of the world, and equip them with tools to fight them.
That’s one of the reasons this Orwellian attempt to erase his work is so disturbing. You can argue that it’s only six books out of hundreds in a lifetime of achievement, but we are only at the beginning. Once you start down that path, you tend to accelerate, not act with caution.
So as I told some friends, I expect we’ll see some more “kindler, gentler editing” along these lines in the near future:
“Horton Hears a Who” will be labeled “ableist,” as soon as they figure out that deaf children will be offended.
“The Cat in the Hat” will be labeled “classist” by those who are upset that this particular cat has a hat. What about kids without enough money for accessories? Nice way to shame them.
“Oh the Places You’ll Go” will be deemed “xenophobic,” since there’s that subtle suggestion of, you know, deporting kids.
“The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” will be found to be borderline bigoted. I mean, just “assuming” that green kids are more inclined to a life of crime than kids of other colors is repellent. What about teal blue munchkins?
“Green Eggs And Ham?” How dare they? What about vegan kids? Trigger, much?
“Sam I Am.” Transphobic. I mean, what if Sam identifies as a “they?” Sam They Are is much more inclusive.
Go ahead and laugh. The tears can wait their turn.
Christine Flowers is an attorney and a Delaware County resident. Her column appears Sunday and Thursday. Email her at cflowers1961@gmail. com.