Hi everyone, this is Dr. Nitin Chhoda and welcome to this important episode of
Ignition Time. In this video I'm going to talk about 2 very important things.
I'm going to talk to you about programs that are available that can actually help the 12 million
Americans whose unemployment is going to run out at the end of this month. It is unbelievable that
congress is still at a gridlock when we are a week away from their Christmas break. But
I want to give you information about programs that can help the 12 million individuals who are likely
to lose unemployment benefits. Also I'll talk to you about why the eviction crisis could actually
accelerate the spread of COVID across the country and what you should know and how you can prepare.
Because individuals who are evicted unfortunately setting aside the financial implications also the
psychological implications there are medical implications to this and this could actually
result in an increase in the spread of COVID which is just a horrific situation right now. Let's jump
into the programs that are still available for individuals even if unemployment programs run out.
The first program is the snap program. The snap program food benefits through the snap program
which is a supplemental nutritional assistance program will continue next year. So I want our
viewers and subscribers to know that that program is available and boosted allotments
given through emergency assistance are going to be available. Here's a quote from Elaine Waxman
who's a senior fellow in the income and benefits policy center at the Urban Institute, (by the way
you'll find a link to all of our resources in the description section below so make sure to check
out our description section below) "Snap programs will continue, they are an entitlement. That's a
rare thing in a safety net world these days." So those programs will indeed continue. Still the
higher amounts will eventually run out without more funding. Congress still needs to provide
more funding for the snap program so we need to be aware of that. Keep in mind that the snap
program does have rules for eligibility but there are no work requirements to receive aid. So you
know there are rules for eligibility but no work requirements so unemployment individual, what that
means is unemployed individuals may be able to get snap program benefits and people can apply for the
snap program through the state in which they live. In fact, we'll provide you with a link in the
description section below where you can access the snap state directory of resources. So depending on
your state you can actually click on your specific state and get the directory of resources for that
particular state if you want to take advantage or if you want to participate in the snap program. So
as you can see on your screen you can essentially go to this link and like I said we'll provide you
with this link in the description section below. All you have to do is click on individual states
and when you click on that state you'll be able to get the information pertaining to
the snap program in that state. You'll get the phone number, you'll get the website,
you'll get the state list of local offices and you'll get applications and in many cases these
applications are online. So this is something you can definitely do if you're unemployed and
if you're looking for assistance. I strongly encourage you to go to this website and keep in
mind to apply for benefits or to get information about snap. You do have to contact your local snap
office by selecting your state on the map that is shown on your screen. Make sure you do that
user contact information each state just like the unemployment benefit system has its own mechanism
of application but all you have to do is simply go to this link apply and you should be able to
you should be able to get in touch with the state you will need to contact your local snap office if
there's no ability to apply online but this should give you a strong starting point to hopefully get
snap program benefits the next program is a tanf program which is temporary assistance for
needy families that's t-a-n-f program temporary assistance for needy families and families with
children or other dependents living at home may be eligible for this ta nf program this
provides financial assistance and other support so you will be eligible for this you could be
eligible for this if you run out of unemployment benefits there are eligibility requirements
for the tanf program and these also vary according to state uh generally tanf legally includes a work
requirement so there could be a work requirement although some states have been making exceptions
because of covet you will have to talk to your state because your state is the one that will make
that determination again like the previous program people you need to apply for the tanf program
at the state level there's also housing assistance now keep in mind the foreclosure and the eviction
moratorium expire at the end of the year and so this is an important housing protection for
millions and millions of our fellow americans and homeowners who are actually experiencing
financial hardships as a direct result of the pandemic with federally backed loans can request
what's called as mortgage forbearance up to 180 days and then you do so by contacting your lender
the deadline for applying for mortgage forbearance is the 31st of december is the end of this month
so i want you to be aware of that with forbearance there should be no additional fees no penalties
beyond the scheduled amounts that you owe keep in mind forbearance does not waive those payments
it essentially delays those payments and when you contact the lender make sure you inquire about the
the federal the cares act mortgage forbearance not the mortgage forbearance program that's offered by
the lender which could be different could be associated with fees so make sure you ask and
you ask for the correct information when you're applying for forbearance now a lot of renters
are going to be in a tough situation but some states do have their own eviction moratoriums
in place that are separate from the federal eviction moratoriums now you may be able to apply
for rental assistance through local programs such as the salvation army so you may be able
to apply for that so definitely look at look into the salvation army website we'll provide
you with a link to the salvation army website in the description section below and people who if
you need rental assistance or housing assistance you should seek help from all of these programs as
soon as possible as there are very few programs and they are generally generally on a first
come first serve basis so keep in mind that you know you do need to apply as quickly as possible
you should apply quickly and get in line because you're not going to be the only one applying
and many programs indeed have a waiting period so you want to apply now because you'll get in line
and you know you want to get that assistance before the assistance runs out don't wait
the mistake you'll make is don't wait for your unemployment benefits to expire go ahead and take
some action right now uh because you know you need to apply as quickly as possible in other news the
eviction crisis could increase the spread of covid in the us yes just unbelievable that you know i'm
even reporting that it has been estimated by cnbc that as many as four hundred and thirty three
thousand yeah you heard that right as many as four hundred and thirty three thousand seven hundred
excess cases of covert excess cases of covet and ten thousand seven hundred additional debts
are caused by states lifting their eviction moratoriums between march and september
according to a recent study so with the national eviction ban that is set to expire in a few weeks
cnbc actually spoke with many researchers about why eviction is linked to the spread of the virus
and what can be done uh to try and keep people in their homes and so unless there is further
legislation from congress for extension our fellow americans could be left wondering where they're
going to sleep at night are they going to be are they going to be evicted this christmas just again
incredible when you think about this more than 12 million of our fellow americans that's one
in every six renters so more than 12 million of our fellow americans one in every six
renters were behind on their end in november and a majority of them were six thousand dollars behind
in their bills six thousand dollars behind in their bills and uh you know unemployment is
is is rising because the number of initial claims have started to rise believe it or not the number
of initial claims have started to rise in the past couple of weeks in fact you see this chart on your
screen that shows you the number of individuals facing eviction across the country now this
represents the renters who are unable to pay rent and are at a risk for eviction as a share of total
renter households you can see that some states individuals are at a much higher risk of eviction
than other states look at a state like west virginia 59 tennessee 58 mississippi 55 louisiana
50 florida 51 and other states individuals are at a lower risk we look at vermont 22
we look at washington 28 so some states are doing better than others but again when it
comes to the devastating consequences of eviction and the reason the reason that
evictions can lead to a spread of the pandemic is because you cannot practice social distancing
safely at home if you're evicted in other words household crowding if you're crowded along with
other other individuals that leads to a spread of the coronavirus when individuals get evicted they
often need to move in with friends or families or they need to enter a homeless shelter this leads
to more crowding and more crowding leads to more spread of the pandemic the more contact you have
with other individuals the less social distancing you can follow the less likely you are to wear
masks the higher the spread of the pandemic which is why social distancing which is linked
to the eviction moratorium is going to be directly related to the spread of the pandemic and not only
do evictions cause a spread of the pandemic but evictions affect children's health and development
just hard for me to talk about this i have a five-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter
if a pregnant mother is evicted really hard for me to report stuff like this if a pregnant mother
is evicted she's more likely to give birth to a baby that's either pre-term
you know born before before full term or low birth weight again if a pregnant mother is evicted she's
more likely to give birth to a baby pre-term or lower birth weight when children are evicted
they're more likely children i'm talking children okay children because children need more food
than adults you know an adult can go you know a day two days it's without food but a child cannot
because a child needs food you know babies need to be fed every hour every couple of hours so
when children are evicted they're more likely to face food insecurity in other words they don't
know where their next meal is coming from and even lead poisoning because they're eating foods that
are unhealthy maybe even eating out of the trash so they're more likely to fall behind cognitively
and fall behind in school which in turn will affect them for the rest of our for the rest
of their lives that's where things stand everybody really hard for me to report information about
what our fellow americans can do if unemployment benefits expire and what our fellow americans
should know about when it comes to the eviction moratorium and how it's related to the spread of
covet if you're about to be evicted uh try and see if you can find someone who can help you
financially because try to avoid being evicted that is the number one solution here see if
someone can help you financially start a gofundme campaign ask for help uh but being evicted uh and
then contracting covid uh is going to be something that that is going to be very hard to get through
not just for you personally but it creates a larger economic problem for us as a country
hopefully this was valuable let me know what you think in the comments section below you'll find a
link to all of our resources in the description section below that's it everybody thank you
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