Relief Fund Aims To Help Employees Laid-Off Due To Coronavirus

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Hourly employees who were laid off due to the new coronavirus, also called COVID-19, pandemic are getting some financial help, thanks to the combined efforts of Employ Prince George's, the Greater Washington Community Foundation, and their partners.

"We know that this disease is a dire situation for low-wage workers," said Walter Simmons, CEO and president of Employ Prince George's. "If you look at those who make $19 or less per hour, which is less than $40,000 a year, especially in the D.C. metropolitan region and Prince George's County, you can imagine if they are missing one or two paychecks, how they can possibly be a demographic of people who will experience immediate poverty due to this pandemic."

The Prince George's County COVID-19 Hourly Employee Relief Fund will provide $200 cash cards to PG County residents who were recently laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"There's going to be a stop-gap in between people's last paycheck and their first unemployment benefit and the stimulus checks that are supposed to be going out," Simmons said. "This is something that can provide a little assistance, to pay a phone bill, put food on the table, or actually take a family out for dinner in between the period where there's no revenue coming into the household."

Prince George's County residents can begin signing up for the fund on Monday, April 6, and the first disbursements will begin later that week. All eligible PG County residents need to do to apply is follow these five easy steps:

1. Visit www.employpgedge.com and register with Employ Prince George's.
2. Select "Apply for Prince George's County COVID-19 Hourly Employee Relief Fund."
3. Complete the required applicant questionnaire.
4. Upload the required documentation to confirm that your layoff is due to the coronavirus pandemic.
5. Confirm and monitor your email for updates.

This is a limited financial resource and priority will be given to hourly employees who were earning $19 or less prior to the pandemic.

According to Simmons, Employ Prince George's started hearing early in March from "Form 1099" employees and gig workers whose income had stopped completely, as well as low-income employees who had their hours drastically slashed. They were all looking for answers. After conferring with community foundation and government leaders, the solution was simple.

"We need to put money in people's hands immediately," Simmons said."That's where the idea came from. ... We were trying to figure out the best way to increase the cash flow into the households of Prince George's County residents who've been laid off and we focused on the hourly and lower wage employees, minimum wage employees, because those people are those most disproportionately affected."

The fund started with a $100,000 grant from the Greater Washington Community Foundation. Employ Prince George's matched that grant with another $100,000. The hope is that donations from the public will help the fund's organizers achieve their goal of raising $500,000 in total.

Those wishing to donate to the Prince George's County COVID-19 Hourly Employee Relief Fund can visit the Employ Prince George's website and click on the "donate" button.