If you are awaiting a stimulus check at the start of the year, there is some good news at least for a specific group of people. The Navajo Nation tribal council recently approved sending out stimulus checks, and a family of four could get up to $5,200 in Navajo Nation coronavirus stimulus checks.
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Navajo Nation Coronavirus Stimulus Checks: What Is It?
The Navajo Nation recently voted to send stimulus checks of $2,000 to every eligible adult and $600 to each child. Recipients can use the stimulus money to buy protective equipment, pay any educational related expenses for students, as well as for paying utility bills, rent and mortgage payments.
This assistance program was approved with an 18-2 vote in favor of the stimulus money. The tribe will use some of the $2.1 billion fund that it got from the American Rescue Plan Act, which was approved in March last year.
About 350,000 tribal members will benefit from this stimulus program. It is estimated that the program would benefit about 250,000 adults, and parents or guardians of 95,000 tribal members under age 18.
“A second allocation of hardship assistance payments of $2,000 per adult and $600 per child will allow our relatives to purchase essential winter supplies like gasoline, firewood, and food now,” Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty said in a press release.
The Navajo Nation coronavirus stimulus checks will be sent automatically to the members who applied for relief money in an earlier round of hardship assistance payments.
“Individuals do not have to reapply for the second allocation of hardship assistance payments. Any future check disbursements will follow the financial process previously approved by the Office of the Controller at: https://www.nnooc.org/,” the press release says.
More Assistance From Navajo Nation
This is the second time the Navajo Nation is sending stimulus checks to its members. Previously, the tribal members got checks under the Navajo Nation CARES Fund Hardship Assistance Program. Funding for the program came from the money that the tribe got from the CARES Act, which was approved in March 2020.
About 7,500 checks are still unclaimed from the previous round, mainly due to address and applications errors. The last date to claim these unclaimed checks has already passed. Approximately 312,000 enrolled members got the money in the first round.
“We strongly urge our people who applied, but have not received a relief check, to contact the Office of the Controller by Dec. 23,” tribal President Jonathan Nez said in the release earlier.
Separately, with the surge in Omicron cases, Navajo Nation has also approved sending stimulus money to tribal residents aged 60 and older. The checks will go to the older Navajos who got help in either 2020 or 2021 from the Navajo Nation CARES Fund Hardship Assistance Program. It is estimated that over 48,000 individuals will be eligible for financial help.