Area foundations and funds continue to respond to COVID-19 crisis
April 17, 2020 Category: Featured, Long, PurposeUpdates
We updated the total raised by The Foundation for Delaware County to reflect the most current dollar amount (4/17/20 at 2:50 p.m.). We updated the total raised by The Barra Foundation, as well as the funds it has dispersed, to reflect the most current information available (4/22/20 at 8:42 a.m.)We will be updating information about COVID-19 response by foundations and funds in the Greater Philadelphia area on an ongoing basis. If you have sent us information and don’t see it here, look for it in the next update. If you haven’t sent us your information yet, email it to philly@generocity.org to be included in future updates.
The Barra Foundation
“There has been a level of listening, coordination and urgency in this period that I hope will be sustained as we look to recover from the long-term effects of this crisis.”
The Barra Foundation is dedicating $770,000 in grants to respond to the short-term needs of the region’s nonprofit organizations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation has made one-time grant payments of $2,500 to each of the 108 organizations that has received funding through the Barra Awards from 2013 to 2019. The nonprofits are already accessing that funding, which totals to $270,000. The unrestricted dollars aim to help the recipients tackle immediate challenges within their own communities during the crisis.
“Organizations are facing cash flow issues because of canceled fundraising events, postponed performances and a general disruption of their services,” Kristina Wahl, the president of the Foundation, said via an emailed announcement. “Our board and staff recognized the foundation’s responsibility to take action as rapidly and widely as possible.”
The board also approved a $50,000 increase in funding to Food Connect, a current Catalyst Fund grantee, to expand its capacity to respond to the rising demand for food throughout Philadelphia; a $100,000 grant to the PHL COVID-19 Fund; $250,000 to the COVID-19 Arts Aid PHL fund and $25,000 to each of Philadelphia’s surrounding four counties’ community foundations.
The Douty Foundation
“The assets of a foundation are not just the dollars that comprise its investment portfolio, the assets are the people and communities that our funds support.”
The Douty Foundation, which since 1968 has awarded grants to small grassroots organizations and movements in Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties, announced that it is releasing “more than 25% of its investment corpus, $1.5 million, to respond to the immediate and emergent needs of the organizations it supports.”
In the emailed announcement of the funding, Jennifer Leith, the executive director of the Foundation, said that the “crisis has created struggles for many nonprofit organizations internally while at the same time requiring them to pivot into areas where they don’t usually operate — such as food distribution, translation of pandemic-related materials, rent stabilization work and academic support for local students — because they are the trusted entity in their community.”
“We want to support these organizations’ financial needs as they take on new approaches to their general operations,” Leith added.
In addition, Douty is providing $500,000 each to the Philadelphia Worker Relief Fund and the PA Immigrant Relief Fund to facilitate rental assistance and cash support for workers left out of the federal stimulus and unemployment compensation programs.
“While we will aid some workers in the short-term through these two relief funds,” Leith said, “there is a long-term opportunity for leadership and action in all sectors — philanthropy, government, corporate and nonprofit — to reimagine our economic system to affirm the value of all of our workers, families and communities. We need action on universal benefits like paid sick days and access to healthcare, and childcare, in addition to immigration reform and a living wage.”
The Foundation for Delaware County
The Foundation for Delaware County, the largest public charity in Delaware County, has raised more than $495,000 to date for the Delaware County COVID-19 Response Fund. And as of April 13, the foundation has given out nearly $150,000 for emergency relief.
Organizations that received funding April 6:
- Boys and Girls Club of Chester: $10,155 to provide gift cards to grocery stores for food-insecure families served by the club and affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County: $10,000 to support the continuation of services, including telephone crisis counseling, to survivors of domestic violence.
- Drexel Neumann Academy: $10,000 to provide gift cards to grocery stores for food-insecure families in Chester affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Greater Philadelphia YMCA: $5,000 to aid the Rocky Run and Haverford YMCA Early Learning Centers in providing childcare and school age programming to healthcare professionals’ children while they are at work.
- Individuals Aiding in Emergency Foundation: $5,000 to partner with Delaware County Emergency Services and collect essential products needed such as face masks (N95), gloves, disinfectant cleaning supplies, CARE Kits that include basic hygiene supplies.
- Mitzvah Circle: $4,500 to purchase diapers, wipes and soap for families living at or below the poverty level and families struggling with serious medical conditions.
- Nationalities Service Center: $5,000 to provide financial assistance for immigrants who have lost their homes, income, and/or employment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Philabundance: $5,000 to prepare pre-assembled meal boxes, that can each provide up to four meals for a family of four, distributed with minimal contact to more than a dozen member agencies in Delaware County.
- Salvation Army: $10,000 to distribute food boxes and essential supplies such as sanitizers, utensils, masks, and more to community members.
- Valley Youth House: $4,000 to purchase essential items for necessities including food, clothing, cleaning supplies, and other household items for youth in the juvenile justice and foster care systems, and youth experiencing homelessness.
- Women’s Resource Center of the Delaware Valley: $5,000 to sustain WRC’s Resource Coordination Counseling Services and support an Emergency Assistance Fund to address immediate needs such as food and household supplies not available through local pantries and health-related needs.
Organizations that received funding April 13:
- CASA Youth Advocates: $10,000 to purchase gift cards for groceries and emergency transportation, diapers, baby wipes and formula as well as cleaning supplies for CASA children.
- Chester Community Coalition: $1,300 to purchase telehealth software to continue to provide therapy and manage secure communications.
- Chester Eastside: $7,000 to purchase food and essential items to maintain service delivery for their pantry.
- Cityteam: $10,000 to distribute emergency food boxes, diapers and formula to guests in need.
- Community Action Agency of Delaware County, Inc.: $10,000 for homelessness services that include providing emergency hotel placements for homeless residents, food and essential supplies in homeless shelters.
- Family and Community Service of Delaware County: $10,000 for fourteen food pantries to provide home delivery of food boxes to low-income households in the county that are quarantined due to COVID-19 symptoms and residents with underlying health conditions.
- Family Support Line of Delaware County, Inc.: $7,500 to supplement technology needs so that forensic and clinical staff can continue to provide support to child victims of sexual abuse and their families.
- Grace Court, Inc., a community of HumanGood East (f/k/a Presby’s Inspired Life): $1,000 for gift cards to grocery stores for low-income seniors and people who are disabled in Yeadon.
- Keystone Human Services: $1,500 to purchase essential supplies to care for individuals with intellectual disabilities in one of eight dedicated homes in Delaware County.
- Kisses for Kyle Foundation: $5,000 for gift cards to grocery stores and essential supplies for families in Delaware County battling pediatric cancer.
- Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA): $3,000 to provide nutritious, shelf-stable meals, in addition to regular deliveries, for individuals who face life-threatening illness and have complex diets in Delaware County.
- Service Corps of Retired Executives Association: $5,000 to develop and communicate critical training on Resilience and Recovery Plans for nonprofit clients (e.g., navigating long-term uncertainty and aftermath of disruption, technical strategies for success, communication skills and essential PR tools).
- The Peggie & Paul Shevlin Family Foundation: $4,000 to provide food, groceries and other essential supplies to recovery houses in Delaware County.
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia has raised over $950,000 in this fund, with 100% being distributed to organizations assisting communities on the front lines, including:
- KAVOD Survivors of the Holocaust Emergency Fund
- Abramson Senior Care
- Jewish Relief Agency
- Judith Creed Horizons for Achieving Independence
- Jewish Family & Children’s Services
- KleinLife – Meal Delivery program
- Philly Friendship Circle — Critical Needs Discretionary Fund
Additionally, the Jewish Federation has provided 1,000 masks to partner agencies while they provide ongoing care to serve the basic needs of their clients, and continues to fun the five regional food pantries of its Mitzvah Food Program.
PHL COVID-19 Fund
“COVID-19 has touched each of us in some way, but the reality is certain communities are more at-risk or face barriers that make this crisis even more challenging to navigate.”
The PHL COVID-19 Fund administered by the City of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Foundation and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southeastern New Jersey has distributed a total of 123 grants and more than $4.8 million in funding distributed, so far.
Organizations that received funding in April 8 round:
- Advocates for Homeless & Those in Need $20,000
- Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (APM) $100,000
- Broad Street Ministry $50,000
- BSM/Prevention Point/Project HOME $100,000
- Bucks County Housing Group $30,000
- CADES $50,000
- Cathedral Soup Kitchen, Inc. $50,000
- Catholic Housing and Community Services $40,000
- Catholic Social Services $25,000
- Chosen 300 Ministries, Inc. $50,000
- Community FoodBank of New Jersey $200,000
- Community Volunteers in Medicine $50,000
- Hedwig House, Inc. $10,000
- Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger $65,000
- ICNA Relief SHAMS Clinic $3,000
- Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia $50,000
- Lutheran Settlement House $50,000
- Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA) $200,000
- Mighty Writers $50,000
- Multicultural Community Family Services, Inc. $48,000
- National Nurse-Led Care Consortium $15,000
- Neighborhood Center in Camden $25,000
- Pathways to Housing PA $25,000
- Patrician Society of Central Norristown $10,000
- Penn Foundation, Inc. $10,000
- Philabundance $200,000
- Philadelphia FIGHT $50,000
- Phoenixville Area Senior Center $40,000
- Prevention Point Philadelphia $50,000
- Project H.O.P.E. $37,000
- Puentes de Salud $48,000
- Saint John’s Hospice $50,000
- Saint Miriam Parish &Friary $10,000
- Share Food Program $100,000
- Silver Springs – Martin Luther School $50,000
- St. Ignatius Nursing & Rehab Center $50,000
- The Greater Philadelphia Diaper Bank $25,000
- The Sunday Love Project $5,000
- Valley Youth House Committee, Inc. $25,000
- Vetri Community Partnership $45,000
- Weavers Way Community Programs $48,000
- Why Not Prosper, Inc. $48,000
- Women’s Resource Center of the Delaware Valley $35,000
- Yardley Makefield Consolidated Emergency Unit $50,000
Organizations that received funding in April 16 round:
- ACLAMO $ 50,000
- African American Chamber of Commerce of PA, NJ & DE Foundation $ 40,000
- African Cultural Alliance of North America Inc (ACANA) $ 40,000
- Aid For Friends dba/Caring for Friends $ 50,000
- AVANZAR (formerly The Women’s Center) $ 35,390
- Bancroft Neurohealth $ 50,000
- Bebashi – Transition to Hope $ 50,000
- BEMS $ 50,000
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia $ 50,000
- C.B. Community Schools $ 10,000
- Coalition of African Communities (AFRICOM) $ 15,000
- Cradles to Crayons $ 45,000
- Dimplez 4 Dayz Incorporated $ 5,000
- EARTHS KEEPERS $ 11,000
- Face to Face $ 50,000
- Families Forward Philadelphia $ 25,000
- Feast of Justice $ 37,500
- Feeding 5000 $ 19,250
- First Light Project $ 25,000
- Food Bank of South Jersey $ 40,000
- Garden of Health, Inc. $ 5,000
- Germantown Avenue Crisis Ministry $ 25,000
- Germantown Deaf Ministries Fellowship Inc $ 10,000
- Greater Harleysville and North Penn Senior Services $ 20,000
- Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce $ 15,000
- Greater Philadelphia YMCA $ 50,000
- Greener Partners $ 25,000
- Haitian-American United For Change $ 2,500
- Helping Hand Rescue Mission $ 26,000
- Hendricks House, Inc $ 50,000
- Hispanic Family Center of Southern NJ, Inc. $ 7,500
- Indochinese American Council $ 50,000
- Interfaith Caregivers of Haddonfield, Inc. $ 20,000
- JEVS Human Services $ 50,000
- Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia $ 40,000
- Joseph’s House of Camden $ 11,000
- Legacy of Hope $ 25,000
- LUCY Outreach A NJ Nonprofit Corporation $ 50,000
- Lupus Foundation of America, Philadelphia Tri-State Chapter $ 15,000
- Medical Students for Masks $ 7,500
- Nationalities Service Center $ 50,000
- Norris Square Neighborhood Project $ 3,800
- Norristown Hospitality Center $ 25,000
- North Penn YMCA $ 10,000
- Nutritional Development Services $ 25,000
- Old Pine Community Center $ 20,000
- Penn Asian Senior Services $ 50,000
- Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation $ 20,000
- Pennsylvania Innocence Project $ 16,000
- Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation $ 50,000
- Public Health Management Corporation $ 50,000
- Quakertown Community Outreach $ 50,000
- Reading Terminal Market Corporation $ 25,000
- Resources for Human Development $ 50,000
- Restaurant Opportunities Center of Pennsylvania $ 31,000
- Retired Senior Volunteer Program of Montgomery county, PA Inc. DBA: RSVP $ 46,600
- SEAMAAC, Inc. $ 50,000
- Second Alarmers Rescue Squad $ 50,000
- St. Edmond’s Home $ 15,000
- Surfside Recovery Services $ 20,000
- The Breathing Room Foundation, Inc. $ 30,000
- The Public Interest Law Center $ 15,000
- The Salvation Army $ 50,000
- The Urban League of Philadelphia $ 50,000
- The Veterans Group $ 35,000
- UESF $ 50,000
- Unity Recovery $ 25,000
- Uplift Solutions $ 50,000
- Urban Resources Development Corporation $ 17,000
- VNA Philadelphia $ 50,000
- VNA-Community Services, Inc. $ 50,000
- WES Health Centers Inc. $ 50,000
- William Way LGBT Community Center $ 50,000
- Women’s Medical Fund $ 50,000
- Women’s Opportunities Resource Center $ 50,000
- Youth Empowerment for Advancement Hangout (YEAH Inc.) $ 8,000
- Youth Service, Inc.$ 4,500
- I Love for Animals $10,000
The Samuel S. Fels Fund
The board of the Samuel S. Fels Fund met several weeks ago to approve several key new recommendations regarding the nonprofits that are the Fund’s grantees, including:
- Automatic renewals for 2019 grantees
- Moving-up timelines for distribution of dollars
- Significantly increasing the grant budget for 2020