COVID hits EVIT / P. 12
Huge mask project / P. 3
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS ...................... 10 MPS board candidates address issues.
COMMUNITY ......... 14 EV orchestra gets nonprofit status.
OPINION ................. 18 Mesa firefighter's valiant fight.
SPORTS .................. 20 Game time for schools on Oct. 2. COMMUNITY ............................... 14 BUSINESS ..................................... 16 OPINION ....................................... 18 SPORTS ........................................ 20 PUZZLES ...................................... 23 CLASSIFIED ................................. 28 Zone 1
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Sunday, September 20, 2020
Mesa upping aid for utility, rent delinquencies BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
M
esa will signi�icantly expand the utilities assistance and eviction-prevention programs, using federal COVID-19 relief funds to avert a spike in homelessness. Both efforts are under the Mesa Cares umbrella of social programs launched in response to the pandemic after the city received $90 million in federal aid earlier this year. That lofty amount will swell by another $6 million in relief funds being allocated by Maricopa County through A New Leaf, a major social service agency that is acting as Mesa’s partner in processing applications for assistance. The city now has $17.25 million earmarked for rental assistance, eviction prevention and utility aid, according to Deputy City Manager
As classrooms reopen, students’ mental health a big concern
Natalie Lewis. "We want to keep people in their homes," she said. "We need the community that needs help to contact us now. The city even has established a hotline, 480644-5440, for people who need help. The federal funds are not a blank check and come with different rules, some of which have deterred applicants because they must document their need, of�icials said. The city’s pandemic-relief money must be spent by the end of 2020 while other federal funds must be spent by September 2021. Other Mesa CARES funding has increased the number of food boxes, helped move homeless people off the street to slow the spread of the virus, funded the purchase of laptops for elementary school students and provided free COVID-19 testing and �lu shots in certain zip codes.
Taco strong
Funds allocated to the eviction and foreclosure prevention program will grow from $1.4 million to $3 million, while the utilities assistance program will increase from $1 million to $8 million as city of�icials hope to prevent a rash of utility cutoffs scheduled to start after Oct. 1. Mary Brandon, Mesa’s deputy community services assistant director, said her department has received 300 applications for assistance, but 200 applicants are having dif�iculty providing the documentation necessary to prove they have been �inancially impacted by COVID-19. She said those who qualify have praised the program as a godsend because it can pay three months of back rent and can cover another two months under some circumstances.
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BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
A
s children and teens begin returning to Mesa classrooms, teachers and administrators aren’t just focused on addressing “learning loss” among many students during months of online instruction. They also are focusing on the impact of campus closures and pandemic-related stress on students’ mental and emotional well-being. While they are addressing academics as well as numerous new protocols aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19, schools also have developed plans to address the fallout from months of uncertainty, isolation and stress. Experts say that fallout has triggered wide range of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, drug overdoses and suicide
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Ruso Santiago Robles fires up some meat at Backyard Taco on Stapley Drive in Mesa. A business that actually began in a Mesa backyard and was started by four people with no experience in the restaurant business is poised to open its fourth eatery this week with an eye toward a fifth location soon. Details: Page 16. (Pablo Robles/Tribune Photographer)