- The 20 grant awards were in addition to 11 previous weeks’ grants, bringing total grantmaking to $2,406,500 from the fund since March 18.
- To date, individual, corporate, and foundation donors have contributed $4,010,850 to the fund.
The Community Foundation announced June 5 the final distribution in its first, rapid-relief grant round from the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund. This fund is the unified community relief effort to support organizations impacted by novel coronavirus and the economic consequences of the pandemic. To date, individual, corporate, and foundation donors have contributed $4,010,850 to the fund.
The twelfth round of rapid relief grants totaled $333,000. Those grants went to the following nonprofit organizations:
- Apple Seeds, Inc.: $5,000 to provide post-partum support for mothers and birth support at a time where hospital births are in flux during the COVID-10 outbreak
- Christ Missionary Baptist Church: $5,000 to provide meals, supplies, and groceries to community members suffering in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak
- Communities in Schools of Memphis: $7,500 to support its COVID-19 Family Resiliency Initiative
- Good Shepherd Pharmacy: $10,000 to continue providing medicine and support to 500+ members during the COVID-19 outbreak
- Hospitality Hub: $20,000 to work with Community Alliance for the Homeless, HCD, and MIFA to provide shelter-in-place, case management, and supportive services to those experiencing homelessness during COVID-19
- JUICE Orange Mound: $10,000 to partner with the Orange Mound Street Assembly and others to provide food and hygiene items during COVID-19 outbreak
- Las Americas: $25,000 to provide food, supplies, devices, education support and other services to 1,000+ families and 700+ students who are out of school and unable to attend summer programming
- Latino Memphis: $25,000 to work within their network to share information and provide direct support related to the COVID-19 outbreak
- Le Dujour H.E.R.O. Village: $7,500 to conduct outreach and intervention to distressed families in 38118 and 38125 during the COVID-19 outbreak
- Legacy of Legends CDC: $10,000 to provide for increased needs of the residents of Frayser as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak
- Mariposas Collective (f/a First Congregational Church – Memphis): $10,000 to support COVID-19 response work for immigrants being done by Mariposas Collective
- Memphis Area Legal Services: $25,000 to assist individuals who are unemployed due to COVID-19 avoid eviction or foreclosure, receive SNAP and unemployment benefits, and receive relief from COVID-19-related scams
- Memphis Crisis Center: $15,000 to provide counseling and direct support for those in crisis during the COVID-19 outbreak
- Mid-South Food Bank: $50,000 to provide for the increased demand for food in the Mid-South community during the COVID-19 outbreak
- Mid-South Immigration Advocates: $7,500 to provide direct legal services to low-income immigrant families during the COVID-19 outbreak
- The PAIGE: $10,000 to provide COVID-19 related referrals and other support to LGBTQ+ communities of color
- Refugee Empowerment Program: $10,000 to provide services and education to new immigrants during the COVID-19 outbreak
- University of Memphis Foundation: $5,500 to provide food and housing support to international students during the summer who are not able to work or return home due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak
- Whole Child Strategies: $25,000 to provide coordinated response to the COVID-19
- YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South: $50,000 to provide food and daycare services for essential workers during the COVID-19 outbreak
The 20 grant awards were in addition to 11 previous weeks’ grants, bringing total grantmaking to $2,406,500 from the fund since March 18.
Anticipating multiple grantmaking rounds, the fund’s Advisory Committee allocated 60% of available funds to immediate needs and reserved 40% for recovery and resilience funding. The second phase of funding, to be introduced later this month, is intended to stabilize nonprofit organizations that are directly responding to the significant consequences of, and disparities exacerbated by, this public health crisis.
In addition to awarding grants to select agencies identified by the Community Foundation and its partners, the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund will invite any nonprofit in West Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, or northern Mississippi that is directly responding to the priority populations most impacted by the consequences of the pandemic to apply for up to $50,000 in general operating funds to continue to provide and enhance services to those populations.
The fund seeks contributions from concerned Mid-Southerners. To donate online and learn more about the fund, including its weekly grant distributions, visit cfgm.org/COVID
About the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund:
The Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund is managed by the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, in partnership with City of Memphis, Shelby County Government, United Way of the Mid-South, and Momentum Nonprofit Partners/Mid-South Philanthropy Network. It provides flexible funding to nonprofit organizations serving community members dealing with the economic consequences of the outbreak in West Tennessee, Eastern Arkansas, and Northern Mississippi.
About the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis:
The mission of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis is to strengthen the community through philanthropy. Founded in 1969, the Foundation last year awarded $163 million in grants to nonprofit organizations. The Community Foundation manages 1,200 charitable funds, with assets of $739 million. For more information, visit cfgm.org.
Contact: Julia McDonald, Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, 901.722.0056, jmcdonald@cfgm.org
