The importance of housing stability in improving health outcomes is well understood, but the pandemic increased the visibility of the connection. The looming crisis is so urgent that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took the unprecedented step of issuing an order temporarily halting residential evictions for nonpayment of rent until January 1, 2021, as a measure to help stem the spread of COVID-19.
In these extraordinary times, two California — San Jose and Stockton — are working to help renters, owners, and people without permanent shelter deal with the pandemic’s outcomes.
“We generally adhere to the typical ‘Ps’ of housing — production, preservation, prevention, and protection,” said Max Vargas, senior policy advisor to former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs. “But during the pandemic, protection became our top order.”