THE PROBLEM

Many Black people are in unstable housing situations because of decades of redlining and predatory lending from banks. We have higher mortality rates and less access to healthcare because of systemic discrimination. Many of our communities do not have equal access to food, technology, or other needed resources at this moment.

THE SOLUTION

We must ensure that Black communities have housing, healthcare, and access to education.

FEDERAL ACTION

Ensure Access to Housing and Utilities for All:

• Moratorium on mortgage payments and taxes.
• Freeze on all rent and utilities. 
• Commit to providing vulnerable houseless residents, survivors of violence, and recently released individuals with safe and sanitary community-based housing. If emergency “isolation and quarantine” housing is possible, permanent decent housing for all must be possible too. Housing provision commission set up to allocate housing to those in need.
• Increase funding for domestic and sexual violence shelters and agencies. 
• Make any bail outs contingent on guarantee that unfilled hotels and private housing units will be made available to those in need of housing. Ensure that buildings with vacant units, empty hotel units, and unused Airbnb apartments are released to house sick and at-risk people that otherwise do not have access to other private housing.  
• Declare a moratorium on utility shut-offs and institute a grace period on payments.

End Housing Discrimination:

End any housing and services restrictions for people with a history of justice involvement.

Ensure Access to safe Quarantine facilities:

Ensure equal access to quarantine is provided in the same settings for non-disabled and disabled people alike.

Ensure Access to preventive and urgent healthcare for all:

• Provide medicare for all single-payer universal healthcare to all people living in the United States, including people who are not documented as well as incarcerated people and people under state supervision.  
• Waive all co-pays for medical expenses for COVID-19 related illness. 
• Provide Free COVID-19 testing, treatment, and services for ALL, regardless of immigration status. Black, brown, undocumented, and low-income communities are more vulnerable to health and economic crises. 
• The Public charge rule should be immediately repealed to allow those exposed to COVID-19 to seek healthcare without fear. 
• Ensure continuity of home and community-based services, including allowing people receiving home and community-based services to hire on the spot without traditional citizenship verification and background checks, and waive restrictions on hiring partners and family members.
• Force insurance companies to provide at least a 90-day supply of medicines, controlled medicines, and consumable supplies; and waive all telehealth fees.
• Waive fees related to Medicaid-funded transportation programs and provide workers with access to preventative equipment and disinfecting supplies.
• Provide free, safe, and accessible family planning and reproductive healthcare and abortions. Without regard for state restrictions or limitations.
• Provide free, safe, and accessible gender affirming medical care.
• Ensure health protections for all workers who are considered essential or frontline workers (including healthcare workers, care-givers, grocery store and pharmacy workers, cleanings and janitorial services, lawyers, legal workers, social workers, childcare providers, delivery workers, etc). Workers should be provided with the necessary safety equipment and training to ensure their safety. This includes masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfectants sprays, and cleaners. 
• Suspend all Continuing Disability Reviews under the Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs.

Ensure that students have their educational, emotional, and nutritional needs meet through this crisis and beyond:

• Provide grants to local schools, including technical schools and non-traditional schools, to ensure access to needed technology (including assistive technology) for all students.
• Provide full funding for emergency, mental and physical health resources at public schools. All public schools should have fully resourced wellness centers and emergency supplies. 
• Ensure access to healthy meals for all students and their families while schools are closed.

STATE ACTION

Housing and Health for All! All barriers to housing, healthcare and education must be removed. We demand:

• Immediately suspend all evictions statewide.
• Moratorium on utility shut-offs and institute a grace period on payments.
• Moratorium on mortgages and tax payments. 
• Commit to providing vulnerable houseless residents and recently released individuals with safe and sanitary community-based housing alternatives to protect against the spread of COVID-19.
• Institute a moratorium on any housing and services restrictions for people with a history of justice involvement.
• Ensure access to unfilled hotels and private housing units through state subsides to hotels and housing units. We demand that buildings with vacant units, empty hotel units, and unused Airbnb apartments be released to house sick and at-risk people that otherwise do not have access to other private housing.  
• Declare a moratorium on sweeps and confiscations of houseless people and their property.
• Provide housing options for survivors of violence.

Healthcare

• Ensure no cuts to Medicaid. States should also eliminate the Medicaid “global cap” and act immediately to ensure that everyone has health insurance, regardless of their immigration status.
• Declare a moratorium on all co-pays.
• Do not bill for any COVID-related health care costs.
• Institute universal healthcare for all state residents including undocumented peoples. 
• Ensure continuity of home and community-based services.
• Require insurers to cover off-formulary prescriptions. 
• Ensure that people who require ventilators will not have them taken away at hospitals, ventilator usage will not be determined on the basis of disability or age, and no incentives for people that require ventilators to not visit hospitals. 
• Ensure health protections for all workers, who are considered essential or frontline workers (including healthcare workers, care-givers, grocery store and pharmacy workers, cleanings and janitorial services, lawyers, legal workers, social workers, childcare providers, delivery workers, etc). Workers should be provided with the necessary safety equipment and training to ensure their safety. This includes masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfectants sprays, and cleaners. 
• Provide free, safe, and accessible family planning and reproductive healthcare including access to abortion and increased resouces for birthing people, including: 

• Providing funding to community-based organizations that are working to improve maternal health outcomes, particularly for Black women;
• Growing and diversify the perinatal workforce to ensure that every mom receives maternity care and support from people she can trust;
• Improving data collection processes and quality measures to better understand the causes of the maternal health crisis in the United States and inform solutions to address it;
• Investing in maternal mental health care.
• Establish emergency standards as preventive measures to significantly lower risk for workers at highest risk, including home aid workers, childcare workers, cashiers, etc. 

Education

• Provide grants to local schools, including technical schools and non-traditional schools, to ensure access to needed technology (including assistive technology) for all students.
• Provide full funding for emergency, mental and physical health resources at public schools. All public schools should have fully resourced wellness centers and emergency supplies. 
• Ensure access to meals for all students and their families while schools are closed.

LOCAL ACTION

Housing and Health for All! All barriers to housing, healthcare and education must be removed. We demand:

• Commit to providing vulnerable houseless residents and recently released individuals with safe and sanitary community-based housing.
• Ensure access to unfilled hotels and private housing units through state subsides to hotels and housing units. We demand that buildings with vacant units, empty hotel units, and unused Airbnb apartments be released to house sick and at-risk people that otherwise do not have access to other private housing.  
• Declare a moratorium on sweeps and confiscations of houseless people and their property.
• Declare a moratorium on evictions and immediately suspend all evictions citywide.
• Institute a moratorium on any housing and services restrictions for people with a history of justice involvement.
• Declare a moratorium on utility shut-offs and institute a grace period on payments.
• Declare a moratorium on mortgages and tax payments.
• Provide housing options for survivors of violence.
• Develop strategies that maintain the independence of all people in group homes, mental health residential centers, and other institutions. 

Healthcare

• Declare a moratorium on all co-pays.
• Do not bill for any COVID-19-related health care costs.
• Ensure continuity of home and community-based services.
• Ensure health protections for all workers, who are considered essential or frontline workers (including healthcare workers, care-givers, grocery store and pharmacy workers, cleanings and janitorial services, lawyers, legal workers, social workers, childcare providers, delivery workers, etc). Workers should be provided with the necessary safety equipment and training to ensure their safety. This includes masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfectants sprays, and cleaners. 
• Establish emergency standards as preventive measures to significantly lower risk for workers at highest risk, including home aid workers, childcare workers, etc. 
• Increase culturally specific on-the-ground services for people with mental health or other needs.
• Moratorium on all involuntary commitments and the release of patients involuntarily committed.

Education

• Provide grants to local schools, including technical schools and non-traditional schools, to ensure access to needed technology (including assistive technology) for all students.
• Provide full funding for emergency, mental and physical health resources at public schools. All public schools should have fully resourced wellness centers and emergency supplies. 
• Ensure access to healthy meals for all students and their families while schools are closed.