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Pandemic Resources Available for Nashville Residents & Small Businesses

Our Fair Share Nashville powered by The Equity Alliance

Nashville:

You spoke, and your city officials listened.

Thank you for making your voice heard by taking the Our Fair Share Survey. The Equity Alliance is extremely proud of the work that the Our Fair Share team of canvassers and community partners poured into the campaign. Because of you, we were able to present 8,505 survey responses to Mayor John Cooper and Metro Government with a report that reflects the hardship, concern, and uncertainty faced during this Covid-19 pandemic by Nashville’s Black and Latino residents and minority-owned small businesses. 

Thanks to your participation, the Metro Covid-19 Financial Oversight Committee, along with Metro Council and Mayor John Cooper, allocated federal CARES Act funding for the following purposes:

Rent, Mortgage, and Utility Relief – $10 Million

$10 million to the United Way of Greater Nashville, to be disbursed to certain partner agencies for rent, mortgage, and utility relief. Call 2-1-1 to find an agency providing these funds.

Food Security & Nutrition – $2.5 Million

$2.5 million to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to provide more food to those impacted by COVID-19.

Small Business Relief – $5.7 Million

Other State & Local Resources Available

MDHA Emergency Housing Assistance Program
Short-term rent or mortgage assistance will be provided for up to 3-months in an amount of up to $1,400.00 per month to help low-income persons/households at risk of eviction or foreclosure due to a loss of income because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  
APPLY NOW

Tennessee Supplemental Employer Recovery Grant (SERG) Program
On October 7th, 2020, Governor Bill Lee announced the creation of the Supplemental Employer Recovery Grant (SERG) program, a small business relief program designed to reimburse eligible business owners for direct expenses or business interruption costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The application window will open October 7, 2020 and remain open until December 29, 2020, or until all funds are depleted. Funds will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.
APPLY NOW

Tennessee Department of Human Resources
Child care and services during Covid-19 are available at no cost.
GET HELP

Unemployment Benefits
Lost your job due to Covid-19? You may be eligible to collect unemployment benefits.
APPLY NOW

Good to Go Program
Good to Go is a hospitality safety program created by The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, in cooperation with Vanderbilt Health, Ryman Hospitality Properties and SERVPRO, to help businesses in every industry implement health and safety guidelines.
LEARN MORE

The Equity Alliance files lawsuit to expand absentee voting in Tennessee amid COVID-19

Lawsuit seeks to ensure voters can vote safely by mail in the upcoming elections and ensure ballots count

For Immediate Release
May 1, 2020

In the midst of a global pandemic, The Equity Alliance, in partnership with Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, filed a lawsuit today on behalf of two qualified voters and organizations whose many members are not eligible for vote by mail under current law, but wish to avoid exposing themselves or elderly family members to coronavirus.

Other plaintiffs include five organizations facing restrictions preventing them from carrying out necessary voter engagement activities for their members and the community in 2020. Under Tennessee law, the organizations can be punished for giving voters unsolicited requests for an absentee ballot with up to 11 months and 29 days in prison, a fine of up to $2,500, or both.

Typically, Tennesseans have cast their ballots largely in person. Recently, the rapid shift towards voting by mail has revealed how unprepared Tennessee is to ensure all absentee ballots are counted in the upcoming elections. The state gives election officials discretion to reject absentee ballots when elections officials decide, in their judgment, that the voter’s signature on their ballot doesn’t match the voter’s signature on file with the voter registration. This “matching” process is unreliable and prone to mistakes, and because the state does not give voters any opportunity to fix apparent problems with their ballot, leads to disenfranchisement.

The following statement is from The Equity Alliance Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director Charlane Oliver on A. Phillip Randolph Institute v. Hargett. The Equity Alliance is an organizational plaintiff in the suit.

“Tennessee voters should not be forced to choose between their own personal safety and participating in our democratic process. Our state needs to adapt to the current environment brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Our organization wants to be able to proactively assist voters with voting by absentee ballot without the threat of criminal prosecution. We are in unprecedented circumstances that call for state officials to implement safer and secure approaches  t  ensure democracy is preserved in the Volunteer State.”

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Read more about why we need to expand absentee voting during a pandemic.