CAPIC Fuel Assistance Update – You May Now Be Eligible!
COVID-19 is affecting us all whether it’s our health, household income, our social well-being or a combination of all three. If you are a resident of Chelsea, Winthrop or Revere and are finding it difficult to keep up with home heating expense during this time please do not hesitate to reach out to CAPIC. All applications can be completed remotely. Call today, you may be surprised you qualify! Please call 617-884-6130.
Temporary Housing for Residents to Safely Recover From COVID-19
Beginning April 16, the Quality Inn in Revere will be used as temporary housing for Chelsea and Revere residents sick with COVID-19 who are in need of a safe, non-overcrowded place to recover. Eligible residents are:
•confirmed by testing to have the virus,
•confirmed by a doctor that they do not need hospital care,
•and living in overcrowded housing where it is difficult to self-quarantine (stay separated from others).
Those meeting these qualifications will be further evaluated by healthcare professionals to determine if the Quality Inn will provide appropriate temporary isolation housing for their unique circumstances. Isolated individuals at the Quality Inn will receive care from Partners HealthCare medical professionals, along with food and hygiene supplies provided by MEMA. There will also be mental health support services from North Suffolk Mental Health Association. This safe housing option will be available for 60 days.
MGH Chelsea Offers Testing for Those with Symptoms
Starting Monday April 13, patients with symptoms of Covid-19 are eligible for testing at MGH Chelsea. One doesn’t need to be a patient of MGH to qualify. There is also not a need to have health insurance, and immigration status does not matter.
Appointments are STRONGLY encouraged, but walk-ins will not be turned away. If anyone has one of the following symptoms, please call 617-724-7000, to schedule an appointment for evaluation and testing:
•fever
•new sore throat
•new cough
•new runny nose or nasal congestion
•new muscle aches
•new shortness of breath
•new loss of smell
If one is a patient within the Partners Healthcare system, please call the Primary Care doctor’s office with any questions, and to be scheduled for evaluation and testing.
Train Horns
The Federal Railway Administration has recently determined that the Grade Crossings (where road and railroad intersect) in Chelsea no longer qualify as a Quiet Zone. Unfortunately, once the FRA issues this determination, neither the City, the MBTA, nor anyone else can change the rules to stop train whistles from blowing. In the short term, the whistles will blow for every train crossing. In the long term, the City will work with the FRA to identify, and the construct, the necessary changes to restore the Quiet Zone. That process – identifying construction changes that will satisfy FRA, designing the changes, appropriating the funds for the changes, and actually constructing the changes – will likely take significant time, likely a year or more.
Collaborative Masks For Sale
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chelsea Collaborative was supporting a group of jornaleros (day laborers) to launch a worker-owned tailoring cooperative in Chelsea for entrepreneurial immigrants in search of economic opportunity. They have now come together to support community crisis responders and help undocumented families in Chelsea weather the financial crisis. The jornaleros are sewing proper masks to protect Chelsea’s community response organizations from the spread of the virus. Masks are being sold for $10 each and the proceeds are going to support undocumented families who are not eligible for unemployment benefits. 300 masks have already been sewn and distributed with more on the way. Individuals can purchase masks as well. To purchase any masks, you may place an order via email, please provide your name, phone number, address and number of masks by contacting: [email protected] then via Cash App: $ChelseaCollaborative.
Getting Food to Everyone in Need: Updates
Pop-Up Food Pantries are continuing to serve the people of Chelsea, providing boxes of food every weekday beginning at 11 a.m. The City is increasing our food supply daily so that everyone who needs food can get it. With this in mind, please be patient and mindful of your neighbors in need. Some families have more immediate need than others and we want to make sure that everyone gets to eat. Soon there will be enough for everyone.
Pop-up Pantry Locations:
•Mondays:
Quigley Park, 25 Essex Street
Ruiz Park, 141 Washington Avenue
•Tuesdays:
Luther Place, Cherry Street, between 5th Street and 4th Street
Bellingham Hill Park, 115 Bellingham Street
•Wednesdays:
Washington Park, at Washington Ave and Hancock Street
Bosson Park, 43-56 Bellingham Street
•Thursdays:
Chelsea Square, near 2 Second Street
Highland Park, in front of 30 Willow Street
•Fridays:
City Hall Parking lot, 500 Broadway
Mary C. Burke Complex, 300 Crescent Avenue
If You Are Not Sick and Need Food
•Monday-Friday: Hot lunches and kids lunches at 11:30 a.m. at Salvation Army (258 Chestnut Street)
•Tuesdays and Thursdays: Grocery pick-up 10 a.m.-noon at the Salvation Army (258 Chestnut Street).
•Tuesdays and Thursdays: Grocery pick-up at 5 p.m. at the Chelsea Collaborative (318 Broadway).
•Thursdays and Fridays: Mass General Hospital Food For Families Pantry (151 Everett Ave.). Available two times per month to MGH patients by referral. Please call (617) 887-3575.
•Saturdays: Grocery pick-up 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church (201 Washington Avenue, Chelsea); no appointment necessary.
• If You Are in Isolation and Need Food
Do not wait in line for food. Call 311 (617-466-4100).
• If You Are 65 Years or Older
Contact the Chelsea Senior Center for grocery deliveries. Call 617-466-4377 or 617-466-4370.
School Meal Distribution Changes
The City will no longer have meal services at Saint Rose starting this week.
Next week, the City will reduce site locations to the following:
•Early Learning Center
•Mary C. Burke Complex
•Williams School (Wright/Browne Middle Schools)
•Clark Ave School
•Voke Park
Meals will be served this week during April vacation week.
Pandemic-EBT
Pandemic-EBT, or P-EBT, has recently been approved for Massachusetts and things are underway to implement the program in the state. For households with students who would have received free and reduced price schools meals, P-EBT provides extra money to buy food. Eligible households will receive $5.70 per student for each day of school closure, which will be paid in a lump sum of $199.50 to cover the 35 days that schools have already been closed. If you already have an EBT card, then the funds will be added to your card.
P-EBT benefits can be spent in the same way as SNAP, and they’re available to households regardless of immigration status. However, they do not make you eligible for SNAP and they cannot be used to receive HIP benefits. They also do not replace the existing School Food Program, which continues to serve grab-and-go meals on weekdays for students.
Grants for Downtown Businesses
If anyone owns a small business in Downtown Chelsea that is struggling during this time, they may be able to apply for financial assistance from the Chelsea Business Foundation. Grants are from $1,000 to $5,000 and can be used to cover rent, keep employees, and other critical needs. To apply, your business must:
•Be in Chelsea’s TDI District
•Have less than 50 employees
•Need financial help due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Applications are due by 6 p.m. Friday, April 24.
Tax Bills, Others Delayed to June 1
The due date for ALL city payments and applications has been extended to June 1, 2020. This policy applies to all bills with a due date on or after March 10, 2020. June 1, 2020 is the new due date even if you received a bill that said the due date for payment is earlier than that.
This extension applies to all of the below:
•Real property tax bills
•Personal property tax bills
•Applications for property tax exemptions
•Parking stickers applications and renewals
•Parking tickets
•Parking ticket appeals
•Excise tax bills
•Water and sewer bills
Blood Donations Needed
With the increase in people needing medical assistance during the pandemic there is a critical need for blood as well. If you are able, please contact the Red Cross to make an appointment or look for upcoming opportunities to donate at MGH-Chelsea.
Reminder: Parks Equipment Closed to the Public
All childrens’ playground areas, all basketball/tennis courts and all athletic fields are closed to the general public due to the COVID-19 crisis. Some large recreation areas remain open in the City, but public use is limited to passive recreation such as walking and jogging, and only provided that social and physical distancing rules (six feet away from others) are followed. No athletic activities that bring participants into close physical contact are allowed, even when involving 10 or fewer people.