Month: November 2020

Published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, 11/17/2020

Over the weekend, I posed the following question to my friends on one of my social media accounts: “Can we agree to retire the word ‘unprecedented’ at the end of 2020?”

At the time, I was watching the news, and I groaned as the anchor used this word to describe something — I don’t even remember now what it was — maybe Trump’s refusal to concede? Or the number of new COVID infections? Our inability to keep each other safe during a pandemic?

All I remember now is the thought that went through my head: “This word no longer has meaning.”

The online version of Merriam-Webster’s dictionary reports that “unprecedented” is an adjective meaning “having no precedent; novel; unexampled.” Similar to the word “unique,” “unprecedented” is intended to be used sparingly. After all, once an unprecedented thing happens, there is precedent.

To find out if I was just imagining the increased use of this expression, I did a not-very-scientific experiment. I searched for the word “unprecedented” in my work email from Jan. 1, 2020 through Nov. 15, 2020. I filtered out headline updates from The New York Times and other messages that were not associated with my job. The result was that the word “unprecedented” appeared in 177 work-related email messages that I received.

Then I did a similar search for the entirety of 2019, which resulted in a mere 11 messages. In other words, the word “unprecedented” was used 16 times more frequently in 2020 than in the previous year — at least as far as my email is concerned.

The word appeared in an average of 18 emails per month. The highest frequency of its appearance was in March (36 messages) and April (43 messages). This correlates with the first surge of coronavirus cases in the United States, along with campus closures due to the pandemic.

It was unprecedented to send students home and ask all faculty and the majority of staff to work remotely to finish up the academic year. It was unprecedented for us to rethink the way we did most things so that we could stay away from each other and keep each other safe.

However, the coronavirus was not the only thing that made 2020 unusual. The term “unprecedented” has been used to describe so many things. Here is a sampling of them:

?Hospital ICUs filled to capacity and a shortage of ventilators

?Lack of PPE for first responders, nurses reused masks for days

?Sharp spike in job losses

?Close to 250,000 deaths of U.S. residents from COVID-19

?Wildfires raged across Australia and later the West Coast of the U.S.

?Ongoing protests for Black Lives Matter in the wake of George Floyd’s murder

?Increasing visibility and audacity of white supremacists in the U.S., including a plot to kidnap a sitting governor

?Toilet paper, cleaning and baking supply shortages (seriously?)

?Students of all ages expected to learn remotely

?A sitting U.S. president lying about the security of our elections

?Confirmation of a Supreme Court justice during an active presidential election

?An African American and South Asian American woman elected as vice president

?The U.S. president’s unwillingness to concede the presidential race

There are certainly events missing from this list that I’ve forgotten or that others would consider more “unprecedented” than these.

While I’m hoping 2021 will be a better year for the human race, there are some things that started in 2020 that I hope we can use to set new precedents. For example, people have been spending more time outside. In addition to common pursuits like walking, hiking and biking, I’ve enjoyed how activities such as dining and exercise classes continued to take place outdoors even into the cooler months. Doing yoga outside while watching the sunset was a highlight of the fall.

Looking after our neighbors is another habit that I hope will continue. Several communities set up official mutual aid groups to help each other. There were even more unofficial kindnesses happening among neighbors. People in my neighborhood seem more willing to stop to say hello and get to know each other.

Spending more time at home with family has had its high and low points. In my house, it’s been difficult for my teens to spend so much time on screens doing their schoolwork, and our house is too small for us to each have an office space. That said, I appreciate being able to work from my couch with my dog snuggled beside me. I recognize that I am one of the lucky ones who has a job when so many people are out of work.

Once we are beyond 2020, when we have some time and distance from it, we’ll be able to see more clearly what happened, how we got to this place — both the bad and the good, and how that set the precedent for the future.

Published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, 10/16/2020

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic after many lost their jobs, the state instituted a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures so that residents who were already struggling with their finances wouldn’t also have to worry about losing their homes. The moratorium was set to expire on Aug. 18, but Gov. Baker extended that deadline for two months.

The end of this week will mark the end of the moratorium, and while the state Legislature has attempted to stall immediate evictions, there will not likely be another extension to the moratorium after the Oct. 17 deadline.

The commonwealth offers two programs that provide short-term funds to help residents with low incomes to stay in their homes. Way Finders in Springfield (wayfinders.org/apply-financial-assistance) is the local nonprofit that oversees both the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) and the Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance (ERMA) programs. RAFT funding is predominantly geared towards families earning less than 50% of the area’s median income. ERMA funds are used to help both renters and homeowners earning between 50-80% of the area’s median income.

In addition to the state programs, some local communities are using Community Preservation Act or Community Development Block Grant funds to provide short-term rental assistance. Amherst and Springfield have programs in place. Easthampton and Hadley are developing theirs.

It may sound as though there are many avenues for people who are struggling to pay their rent to get support, but each of these programs has capped the total amount that a household can access. What will happen once households have used all of their options?

Between March 15 and Aug. 22, a total of 1,208,132 Massachusetts residents filed for unemployment. Over the summer, unemployment in the state reached a high of 17.7%. These are people who are figuring out how to survive on much less income than they are used to. Sometimes this means choosing between paying bills or buying food and medicine.

The moratorium has helped stabilize both individual households as well as communities. However, when it is lifted and landlords begin eviction proceedings for their tenants, we will face new challenges. Evictions are costly to both landlords and tenants. There will likely be a backlog of cases; proceedings will take a long time. The legal costs will be high, and so will the emotional costs.

Eviction is damaging. In the short term, evicted individuals and families have to find somewhere to go. They may end up moving in with family or friends or end up living for a time in a homeless shelter. During this pandemic, either of these options may mean exposure to the virus and an increase in COVID cases. Studies have also shown that people who have been evicted suffer from higher rates of depression. Eviction can be particularly destabilizing for children, who lose the structure and sense of security they need to thrive.

In the long run, eviction can stop people from finding stable housing even when they have recovered financially. Evictions are included on credit reports and may be in rental histories for up to seven years. The fallout from an eviction can alter the course of a person’s life.

The Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) and other housing advocates are calling on the governor to increase the RAFT funding from the Coronavirus Relief Fund. They estimate that approximately 17,000 households across the state are in danger of being evicted without this additional help. The proposal calls for a $175 million increase RAFT and $15 million for legal assistance and case management for low-income renters and property owners who may end up in housing court.

As of this writing, Gov. Baker had committed to some parts of the CHAPA proposal. He has added $100 million to the RAFT program and dedicated another $50 million to rehousing those who have been evicted. Even better would be to drastically reduce the number of evictions that happen.

At the federal level, the U. S. House of Representatives has proposed another stimulus bill that would help those who are in need, but the Senate has prioritized the Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

If you are interested in learning more about housing and how you can be an advocate, you can become a member of the Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) or you can join your community’s Affordable Housing Partnership.