| ALERT: Small Business Administration Loans Now Available |
Dear Friends,
We all understand the importance of education for our children. With schools in Arkansas currently closed until April 17th to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, keeping children on-track with their education is a unique challenge.
Resources for Parents and Educators:
- The Smithsonian offers free, high-quality educational tools to keep students entertained and engaged. Access HERE.
- The Library of Congress provides resources to assist teachers in future lesson planning and provides families with free-books, author talks and more. Access HERE.
- The National Gallery of Art gives families ways to engage with the Gallery's features online. Access HERE.
- The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee has also released a guide with helpful STEM options to keep students engaged. Access HERE.
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization has created a comprehensive list of educational applications and platforms to help parents, teachers, and schools. Access HERE.
- The Barbara Bush Foundation for Literacy Educational Toolkit for At-Home Learning offers free online resources that can help children continue to build critical literacy skills while schools are closed. Access HERE.
For Students with Learning Challenges:
If your child has learning challenges or special needs, learning from home can be even more difficult. The Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities has a wealth of resources focused on making online learning more accessible, engaging, and effective for students with disabilities that can be found HERE.
Breakfast and Lunch for Children:
With schools in central Arkansas closing as a preemptive measure to protect the health of students and the community, many children across Arkansas who depend on school breakfast and lunch for food for the day, and their parents, may be concerned. However, the Central Arkansas Library System, City of Little Rock, the Clinton Foundation, Hunger Relief Alliance, and the Little Rock School District have stepped up to ensure that these children will still have access to regular meals.
For locations and times where grab-and-go food services will be available to children under the age of 18, click HERE or on the image below.
Free Access to Internet:
Both Comcast and Spectrum are offering free internet for sixty days so that students can use online resources to continue learning during the ongoing pandemic. Find out more information on Comcast HERE, and find more information on Spectrum HERE.
Read With Your Children:
If you are able, experts recommend keeping your children active, sticking to a routine, and reading with your children daily.
The U.S. Department of Education’s "Talk, Read, and Sing Together Every Day!" tip sheets provide families, caregivers and early educators with research-based tips for talking, reading, and singing with young children every day. Access those tip sheets HERE.
As more resources become available, I will update my webpage HERE.
As families, communities, and as Americans, we will get through this together.
Sincerely,
Representative French Hill
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| Loans available for small businesses |
| Apply for Low-Interest Loans During COVID-19 Outbreak |
BIG NEWS. The Small Business Administration has approved Governor Hutchinson’s disaster declaration request for economic injury as a result of the novel coronavirus.
This means that small businesses in central Arkansas and throughout can start applying for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) immediately. These loans are designed to help businesses who are losing revenue due to federal, state, and local measures about COVID-19.
Click HERE to apply for these loans now that declaration has been made official. If you are not a small business owner but would like to help, please share this information with your friends, family, and the local businesses that you frequent.
| ARE YOU OR A LOVED ONE STUCK ABROAD? |
| My Office Can Assist with Repatriation |
Yesterday, the State Department announced a Level 4 travel advisory which for all to all international travel. This is the State Department's highest warning and indicates that Americans should not travel abroad, and Americans abroad should shelter in place for safety. For more information, click HERE to visit the State Department's webpage.
If you are reading this from abroad and are trying to repatriate back to the United States, or if your loved one is the one who wants to return, my office can help. Contact me at Hill.House.gov, or call my Little Rock office at (501)324-5941.
| Phone Call with State Chamber |
| Connecting with Business Owners |
Today, Senator Boozman, Senator Cotton, Rep. Womack, Rep. Westerman, Rep. Crawford and I held a call with the Arkansas State Chamber. Our local small businesses have been very hard hit by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, particularly customer-facing businesses such as restaurants. The Arkansas State Chamber represents many of our familiar local businesses and I was able to hear directly from them how Arkansas businesses have been impacted and what I can do as your representative in Congress.
| Veterans Affairs COVID-19 Response |
| Website with Updated Information |
Ensuring our central Arkansas veterans have access to the care they are owed after serving our counties is of my top priorities.
During the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, I want to ensure that veterans have the best information on how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is responding to the novel coronavirus. The VA has created a website with information on COVID-19, that will be updated daily with the number of veterans who have contracted the virus, how veterans can seek treatment, and any changes to how the VA operates, which you can access below or by clicking HERE, or on the image below.
As always, if you need or someone you know needs help with the VA or any other government agency, please send me a message at Hill.House.gov, or call my office at (501) 324-5941.
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DRIVE-THROUGH COVID-19 TESTING FACILITIES
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Locations in Central Arkansas Testing for the Novel Coronavirus |
Thank you to all of our Arkansas healthcare workers who are working extremely hard to keep us safe and healthy. Today I stopped by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) COVID-19 drive-through testing facility that had screened over 1500 people as of yesterday afternoon and talked to Dr. Jennifer Hunt, the Chair of Pathology and lead doctor on shift, about the important ongoing effort to make testing accessible.
Remember, If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, please call your primary care physician, the Arkansas Department of Health at 1-800-803-7847, or use the UAMS HealthNow screening tool at https://uamshealth.com/healthnow/. Please do NOT go to a testing location, healthcare facility, including your doctor’s office, an urgent care clinic, or the emergency room without calling ahead as this could lead to the spread of COVID-19 to vulnerable people who are seeking care for other illnesses.
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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TEMPORARILY SUSPENDING PARK ENTRANCE FEES
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Social Distancing Outdoors |
As a lifelong outdoorsman, I am pleased to hear that the National Parks Service has decided to remain open to the public, and that fees are being waved during this national public health crisis to encourage people to follow the Center for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) guidelines while spending time in nature.
This weekend, consider taking your family for a hike and enjoying some of the wild spaces around us that gives Arkansas the name, "the Natural State".
You can find a complete list of the National Parks in Arkansas, and their business hours HERE, or by clicking on the image below.
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