Santa Clara County launches hotline
Santa Clara County residents facing economic insecurity amid the coronavirus outbreak who are struggling to navigate filing for unemployment or other safety net benefits can call a new telephone hotline that will connect them to resources and answer questions about work-related issues and eligibility for social services.
The effort is being led by the Santa Clara County Office of Labor Standards Enforcement and the Fair Workplace Collaborative, a partnership between the Vietnamese American Round Table, the Pilipino Association of Workers and Immigrants, the Day Worker Center of Mountain View, the Step Forward Foundation, the Enterprise Foundation, the Latino Business Council of Silicon Valley and Working Partnerships USA.
The Santa Clara County CAN (COVID-19 Assistance Navigation) initiative will connect people to services they are eligible for — like unemployment, food and housing benefits — and walk them through the application processes. It also will provide workers access to attorneys who can answer questions about workplace and income issues in multiple languages. Organizers said they already are fielding calls from workers with a range of questions and issues, from applying for benefits to reporting employers denying requests for personal protective equipment or threatening workers with calling immigration authorities if they do not show up to work.
“Our outreach and legal teams have been responding to thousands of calls in just the last three weeks from people who are scared and worried and folks who are confused by the process of applying for resources that are critical to supporting their families,” said Jessica Vollmer, Fair Workplace collaborative director at Working Partnerships USA on a call with reporters Thursday.
San Jose City Council member Maya Esparza estimated that the need for support from people who have lost work and income amid the coronavirus will grow significantly week to week.
“People are just desperate,” she said. “They don’t have money in the bank account and they’re worried about how to feed their families right now. They’re facing a huge number of challenges so this is a great resource.”
People who have questions about safety net benefits or other coronavirusrelated resources can call the hotline at 408- 8092124. Support is available in Spanish, English and Vietnamese.