COVID-19 Hospitality Workers Resources – free testing & grants (7.02.2020)

Free Testing & Services

Core Response and the New Orleans Health Department have organized a series of free, COVID-19 testing opportunities for hospitality workers. The first one is today – Thursday, July 2 from 12:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at Bar Tonique (820 North Rampart Street, New Orleans 70119). Two other testing opportunities will take place at the same location and same time on Thursday, July 16 and Thursday, July 30.

No IDs and no symptoms are required to be tested. The tests will be self-administered oral swabs and results will be delivered in 3-5 days via email and/or phone.

In addition to free testing, several organizations will be on site to offer wrap around support services, coordinated by Shift Change. Those services and service providers include:

• Housing Advocacy (LA Fair Housing Action Center, Southern Louisiana Legal Services)
• Halthcare Advice & Navigation (504 HealthNet/Healthy Hospitality, Take Care Y’all)
• Workforce/ Unemployment Assistance (Job1) (Note: Onsite sign-up for unemployment insurance will not be available)
• Free Masks (Sew Dat)
• Safe Reopening (BRACE for COVID-19)
• Free Meals (Crescent City Meal Assistance Program)
• Free HIV Test Kits + Condoms (Crescent Care)
• Voter Registration & U.S. Census (NO City Council)
• Free Cleaning Supplies (NO Dept of Health)

You can find additional resources here as well: COVID-19 Hospitality Workers Resources.

Grants

The Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) announced $547,000 in new grants from its Louisiana Service & Hospitality Family Assistance Program, an initiative to support low-income restaurant, hotel, bar, catering and event staffing company employees who have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and who are working hard to support their dependent children and elderly parents. Total grants from the program now total over $1.2 million.

Applications will be accepted for the next round of Louisiana Service & Hospitality Family Assistance Program grants until Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at 5 pm. To apply, please visit https://www.gnof.org/service-and-hospitality-employee-family-program/.

To qualify, individuals applying must:

• Have earned 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) or less prior to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Have worked more than 32 hours per week in restaurants, bars, hotels, caterers, and event staffing companies in the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s 13-parish region prior to March 9, 2020
• Have submitted a complete application which included: electronic copy of driver’s license or government-issued ID; pay stubs for most recent 30 days; and copy of 2018 or 2019 federal tax return form 1040

To support this program’s expansion, please donate to the Gayle Benson Community Assistance Fund at the Greater New Orleans Foundation by visiting www.gnof.org/benson.