A Frontline Fund For Our Community in Response to COVID-19
The LGBTQ community has overcome devastation brought on by a pandemic in the past. And we can do it again. Together.
After launching the Resilience Fund in late March in response to the negative impact of COVID-19 on South Florida’s LGBTQ non-profit agencies, Our Fund Foundation galvanized the community to raise $150,000 to match a 1:1 challenge of board-restricted funds approved by Our Fund’s board of directors.
WILTON MANORS (November 4, 2020) – Our Fund Foundation, South Florida’s only LGBTQ+ community foundation, announced it will donate a second round of Resilience Fund grants, providing $300,00 in frontline emergency financial aid for 30 LGBTQ+ organizations whose operations continue to be devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. All monies will be distributed immediately to agencies throughout the tri-county area to help support essential needs while also positioning them to have the greatest impact in the future.
“The LGBTQ community has overcome devastation brought on by a pandemic in the past and we can do it again, together,” said David Jobin, president and CEO of Our Fund Foundation. “We are humbled to be able to provide critical support for these 30 deserving LGBTQ+ agencies which in turn aid thousands in our community.”
Our Fund Foundation created the Resilience Fund to help support LGBTQ+ nonprofit agencies in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties. Through a simple, low-barrier application process, the non-profit continues to be a lifeline, providing crucial financial aid and emergency assistance to dozens of South Florida’s LGBTQ community organizations.
“Since the pandemic began, we’ve seen a 60% surge in the number of South Florida neighbors living in poverty and experiencing food insecurity for the first time,” said Thomas Pietrogallo, CEO of The Poverello Center. “To meet these challenges, we’ve had to expand our services to include online grocery shopping and deliveries to homebound clients. The Resilience Fund grant will help stock our food pantry, enable our social workers to educate clients on how to apply for supplemental food programs, and allow us to meet people’s basic needs while we care for those with comprised immune systems, such as HIV.”
At the start of the pandemic, Our Fund Foundation took immediate action and created the Resilience Fund which raised and distributed $310,000 in funds. It also pledged $150,000 from its board-restricted fund as a 1:1 match to galvanize donors, the first time the non-profit has done so in its almost decade-long history.
“Cancelling our signature fundraiser, Transinclusive’s LGBTQ Prom, greatly impacted our financial resources, so we are especially grateful to receive the Our Fund Resilience grant,” said Tatiana Williams, co-founder and executive director of TransinclusiveGroup. “This grant will help us stay connected to our transgender community members via our virtual platforms, subsidize emergency funds for food, prescriptions, ride share assistance and vouchers for temporary hotel stays to avert homelessness, all of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic.”
Commenting on the need to confront racial inequality and health disparities in the Black community and the unjustifiable stigma of HIV, Dr. Réquel Lopes, executive director of the World AIDS Museum and Educational Center, said, “Before the coronavirus upended our world, we were pacing very well. We took this challenge as an opportunity to reevaluate our programs and found virtual platforms to engage in meaningful conversations, like our weekly Facebook Live spotlight series which features people from all walks of life talking about HIV from their perspective. We are honored to again receive funding from Our Fund, which will allow us to expand educational programing and collaborations within the LGBTQ community.”
The Our Fund Resilience Fund is providing emergency aid to 30 local community agencies, with varying levels of financial support between $5,000 to $20,000. Grants to * agencies were made possible by the Tuesday’s Angels Donor Advisory Group at Our Fund Foundation.
Our Fund’s Resilience Fund is providing both immediate relief and long-term recovery.
· Immediate Relief: Our Fund’s Resilience Fund prioritizes and deploys resources to support nonprofit agencies that provide community safety nets and have strong experience working with the immediate needs of LGBTQ communities made most vulnerable by the COVID-19 pandemic.
· Long-term Recovery: Our Fund also supports the financial stability of South Florida nonprofit agencies whose operations and revenue have been severely impacted by COVID-19.
About the Fund: The Our Fund’s Resilience Fund is geared toward supporting general operations through a simple and very low-barrier application process. At this time, we are not accepting applications for the fund, but instead we will proactively make grants to support current and previous Our Fund Foundation grant recipients.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact us as we work remotely.
David Jobin
CEO/President
DJobin@Our-Fund.org
Mark Blaylock
CFO
MBlaylock@Our-Fund.org