The Greater Washington Community Foundation has mobilized more than $5.2 million in community support for its COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund and made new grants totaling $1 million to 14 nonprofits serving residents of Washington, DC, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland. Through this Fund, which launched on March 13 in collaboration with regional partners, The Community Foundation is working to rapidly raise and deploy critical resources to nonprofits responding to the urgent health and economic needs of disproportionately impacted communities in the region.
“During this time of crisis and uncertainty, we are inspired by how our generous donors and community partners are stepping up to help us meet the evolving needs and challenges associated with the impacts of coronavirus on this region,” said Tonia Wellons, President and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. “The Community Foundation is committed to working with our partners to address both the immediate needs of our neighbors and to plan for the longer term needs of our communities.”
New Grants Announced
Since opening an online request for proposals last week, The Community Foundation has received more than 500 requests for funding across five issue areas: Education and Youth, Employment and Small Business, Medical Care and Access, Housing and Homelessness, and General Operating Support.
The following nonprofit organizations were selected this week to receive a total of $1 million in funding based on their alignment with the Fund’s strategic priorities and their ability to both address urgent needs and reach historically underserved populations.
General Operating Support:
Network for Victim Recovery to provide staff with living wages, support clients through the Survivor Support Fund, and provide frontline staff at hospitals with hazard pay.
Greater Baden Medical Services, Inc. to help stabilize and recover from a sharp drop in revenue due to the COVID crisis, ensuring it continues to provide health care services in Prince George’s County.
Greater DC Diaper Bank to provide low-income families with a reliable source of diapers, formula, feminine products, and baby gear.
Education and Youth:
CollegeTracks to provide virtual supports and additional assistance for first-generation-to-college students from low-income, minority, and immigrant families.
Generation Hope to serve teen parents and their children who may experience or have experienced homelessness, foster care, abuse, and food insecurity.
New Futures to serve under-resourced young people pursuing postsecondary degrees while struggling with loss of income, lack of childcare, or adjusting to distance learning and remote work.
Employment and Small Business:
Community Services Agency of the Metro Washington AFL-CIO to provide financial assistance directly to workers demonstrating need.
Martha’s Table to provide a weekly cash stipend to Ward 8 families facing lack of childcare and temporary loss of income for parents and caregivers.
Housing and Homelessness:
House of Ruth to serve women and survivors of domestic violence and help mitigate the risk of increased homelessness for these populations.
Miriam's Kitchen to continue providing services and essential frontline support to people experiencing homelessness.
Calvary Women’s Services to serve women experiencing homelessness in Ward 8.
Pathways to Housing DC to continue providing outreach and to maintain access to medical and psychiatric care for people living on the streets.
Medical Care and Access:
CCI Health & Wellness Services to purchase PPE kits, COVID-19 Test Kits, and software to provide critical services to minority, immigrant, low-income, and uninsured or underinsured populations.
Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC to implement care through a telehealth system, replenish PPE to protect providers and patients, and to create virtual workshops.
To date, the Fund has made nearly $1.8 million in grants. A full list of all nonprofits supported by this Fund is available at www.thecommunityfoundation.org/covid-19-grant-recipients.
“Our funding is targeted toward our nonprofit partners serving the most vulnerable communities in our region, including low wage workers, hourly and gig economy workers, health care providers, people of color, and people experiencing homelessness,” said Tonia Wellons. “These flexible grants will help stabilize our nonprofit partners and allow them to begin addressing the economic shocks brought on by this crisis so they can meet the increase in demand for their services. More importantly, this funding will enable them to expand critical medical care, shelter/housing, financial or other supports and services to provide relief for individuals and families facing hardship across this region.”
Mobilizing Community Support
In addition to The Community Foundation’s initial commitment of $150,000 to launch the Fund, support for this effort has come from The Community Foundation’s donors, local foundations, corporate partners, and online contributions. A full list of donors and partners is available at www.thecommunityfoundation.org/covid-19-our-partners.
Donors include:
Amazon
Aviv Foundation
Diane & Norman Bernstein Foundation
Booz Allen Hamilton
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation
Comcast
The Crimsonbridge Foundation
The Lois and Richard England Family Foundation
Philip L. Graham Fund
Harman Family Foundation
Horizon Therapeutics
International Monetary Fund Giving Together
The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation
Richard E. and Nancy P. Marriott Foundation
Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda Gates company
PNC
Prince Charitable Trusts
Target
United Solutions
Washington AIDS Partnership
Washington Gas
Weissberg Foundation
Wells Fargo Foundation
The World Bank Group Community Connections Fund
200+ individual online donations from community members with gifts ranging in size from $10 - $5,000
As the global pandemic continues, we will continue to make grants from our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. We anticipate doing so on a weekly basis.
If you’d like to contribute to the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, you can read more and donate below.