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67 million in help

The coronavirus crisis hit all parts of our community, with many residents struggling with lost work and wages, other financial burdens, mental and physical health challenges, and for some, sadly, the loss of loved ones to COVID-19.

And Anaheim businesses have been fighting to survive in the pandemic, amid state and county regulations and the constantly fluctuating requirements and closures.

Anaheim is proud to say that we've been here to help. Amid the challenging times of the past year and a half, we've dedicated $67 million in assistance directly helping our community.

The Anaheim City Council allocated millions in spending for community and economic relief, called the Anaheim Community and Economic Recovery Plan, starting in mid-2020. And we continued to expand offerings to the community with new funding sources.

These relief efforts were originally funded by $33 million allocated to Anaheim from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act.

Anaheim also aggressively pursued and secured additional state and federal grant funding to pass on to those who need help.

Below find a summary of how we allocated the $67.2 million to our community.

Find more detail in our fact sheet here.

community relief
vaccine sites
renters in need
homeless programs

Anaheim has led the way, supporting the county of Orange, the state and the federal government's efforts to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to the community.

Anaheim Fire & Rescue was instrumental in standing up and leading PODs, or points of dispensing, in our city. We provided additional city staff and financial and logistical support for the Anaheim POD at Disneyland and the Super POD at Anaheim Convention Center, now closed. 

We continue to support mobile vaccine sites in our neighborhoods. Learn more about vaccines here.

Anaheim has held three rounds of our Emergency Rental Assistance Program, helping hundreds of struggling families with unpaid rent.

Anaheim also implemented a moratorium on commercial and residential evictions.

Building on Anaheim's ongoing efforts to address homelessness, we stepped up with additional assistance during the coronavirus crisis for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

We rented out a motel in Anaheim to help isolate those who are high risk in our shelters, and contracted with City Net, Salvation Army and Illumination Foundation to operate 39 camper trailers provided by the state for quarantining.

We also opened an additional interim emergency shelter at the Salvation Army's thrift store for additional beds for homeless women.

And we launched the Community Care Response Team to help with homeless COVID-19 outreach.

nonprofits

Anaheim partnered with the nonprofit Anaheim Community Foundation to distribute $3 million in grants to local nonprofits to provide direct assistance to families, seniors and others in the community.

Sixty-four nonprofits have used the money to help nearly 200,000 people with food, household supplies, diapers, face masks, sanitizer and more.

Click here to view our agreement with ACF.

housing resources

Anaheim dedicated resources to help those in need of housing or supportive services.

We allocated $1.7 million in grant money to help residents with housing vouchers and other assistance.

support for workers

We allocated $1.2 million to help Anaheim workers who lost their jobs or had reduced hours due to the coronavirus crisis.

This included reemploying laid-off workers as well as training and education.

masks and testing

We purchased face masks and other personal protective equipment for residents and businesses to better stem the spread of the virus in our community.

At our three drive-thru mask giveaway events in September, 2020, we served more than 2,250 Anaheim families and handed out 90,500 masks. 

In addition, we allocated money toward COVID-19 testing sites in Anaheim, including a testing super site at the Anaheim Convention Center.

utility bill help

We allocated $3 million to help struggling families, small businesses and nonprofits keep things running by providing assistance with utility bills and a rebate for home internet access.

Programs included:

  • Internet Access Rebate Program
  • Utility bill assistance
  • Emergency Small Business Assistance
economic recovery
visitors

We allocated $6.5 million in federal coronavirus assistance dollars to Visit Anaheim, which books events at the Anaheim Convention Center and promotes Anaheim as a place to visit.

As we push forward with our economic recovery here in Anaheim, revenues generated by visitors to our city will be critical in helping us provide essential services to residents such as parks, public safety, community centers, libraries and more.

Click here to view our agreement with Visit Anaheim.

Click here to see a report from Visit Anaheim.

struggling businesses

Anaheim distributed $10,000 grants directly to hundreds of small businesses struggling amid the economic impacts of the pandemic. We're helping additional businesses with funding provided by the county. Learn more.

Another $1 million went to our Restaurant Relief Grant Program to help restaurants set up or expand outdoor space and a shop and dine local marketing program through the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce.