SA: Statements On Progression Of City's Pandemic Recovery Efforts

San Antonio TX

27 March, 2022

3:43 PM

Description

Press release from the City of San Antonio: Tuesday, March 22, 2022 CONTACT: Emily Collins, 817-205-1886 [email protected] SAN ANTONIO (March 22, 2022) — The City of San Antonio will disburse $87.8M in American Rescue Plan Act funds over the coming months as part of the pandemic recovery. Today, City Council discussed the next steps in the process of awarding relief funds. Councilwoman Sandoval released the following remarks: "As Chair of the Community Health, Environment and Culture Committee, my objective is to ensure that rescue funds help improve quality of life for all residents of San Antonio, through arts, senior resources, and social service programming. These types of organizations serve critical needs in the community and already have little support to rely on." "The pandemic has made clear the vulnerability of public funding of our arts community. As the City tries to help our artists and arts organizations get back on their feet with these rescue funds, the City should also explore new ways to fund arts so they are more resilient." "Even without a pandemic, too many seniors suffer from social isolation. As much as possible, the City should make sure seniors can connect with others, especially during challenging times." "Providing recovery funds to organizations that don't normally seek funding from the City should also be considered. Plenty of organizations do excellent work without City funding, yet they've been affected by the pandemic all the same. It's time to think beyond what normally would happen." "Finally, I want to urge organizations and businesses seeking rescue funds to adopt COVID-safe protocols in their workplace. Recovering from the pandemic will be difficult; it is important to continue to keep workplaces, workers, and residents safe from the health and economic impacts of COVID." More information on the City's ARPA plan can be found here. This press release was produced by the City of San Antonio. The views expressed here are the author's own.