In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Board of Directors of the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation established the EWVCF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund to assist nonprofit organizations in the five-county region served by the Community Foundation (Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, and Hardy). Since its inception in March of 2020, the fund has awarded 79 grants totaling more than $281,000. The Fund focuses on critical needs in our communities and awards small, flexible grants. Due to limited resources, these grants are NOT of the scale to support larger nonprofit or public institutions that are strained by increased demand for services.
FINAL ROUND TO SUPPORT FRONT-LINE NONPROFITS
Application for the final round of COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund grants will be accepted through January 31 and grants will be awarded in February. This final round focuses on Front-Line community-based nonprofits that have a strong track-record serving people who are immediately and disproportionately suffering from this crisis. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, services to financially vulnerable people who work in industries without sick leave and/or health care; homeless people; and health-challenged vulnerable people. Grants are intended to complement the work of public health officials and expand local capacity to address the acute needs of the outbreak as efficiently as possible. Examples of the types of nonprofits in most need of Front-Line Grant Support, as service numbers rise: community-based health clinics; food bank & food pantries; meal delivery programs; homelessness programs.
PRIORITY POPULATIONS
The Fund is also interested in supporting work that will benefit populations and communities that are being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, specifically those that are more susceptible to the virus and those that are not being supported directly or indirectly with CARES Act funding.
INVITATION TO APPLY
Twenty-seven nonprofit organizations serving the Eastern Panhandle counties of Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hampshire, and Hardy have been invited to apply based on the reports they filed for grants they previously received from the Community Foundation.