The Greater Washington Community Foundation, in collaboration with regional partners, has established the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund to support emergency preparedness and response efforts that will help mitigate the impact on disproportionately affected communities in our region. Grants will cover a twelve-week period and are expected to be between $10,000 and $100,000. The Community Foundation plans to offer subsequent grant opportunities to include support for advocacy and intermediate-term COVID-19 impacts. 

Many of you will be eligible to apply for these funds and the RFP is now open.

The COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund will initially support the ability of our region’s nonprofit system to respond to the immediate health and economic impacts of this crisis. As the situation unfolds and the Community Foundation learns new information about needs in the community, the below giving priorities will evolve. Their immediate funding priorities are focused on support for:

• Expanding access to childcare for low-income families and services for out of school children and youth;

• Mitigating the impact of reduced wages and lost work for hourly and gig economy workers, and small business owners, especially for people of color who are disproportionately affected;

• Providing medical care access to seniors, marginalized communities, and people without coverage;

• Addressing the unique needs of people experiencing homelessness and people at risk of homelessness; and

• Filling gaps for nonprofits providing critical services while facing loss of revenue due to event cancellations; lack of volunteers to assist with providing services; lack of access to necessary supplies; and lack of equipment to comply with public health measures designed to slow the spread of COVID-19, including remote work and social distancing.

This fund will support emergency response efforts targeted toward residents of the Greater Washington region – including DC, Montgomery County, and Prince George’s County. The Community Foundation is also working in close coordination with our colleagues at the Arlington Community Foundation, ACT for Alexandria, and the Northern Virginia Community Foundation.

For more information or to submit to the RFP, visit: https://www.thecommunityfoundation.org/covid-19-rfp