We are excited to partner with The Metropolitan Business League, Wells Fargo, Community Foundation for a greater Richmond and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Virginia to launch The Metropolitan Business League Small Business Recovery Fund.
Today we share some inspiring updates and information from our friends at Community Foundation for a greater Richmond.
Thank you for your generosity!
Over the past several weeks, we have seen tremendous support from individuals and organizations across our region stepping up to help our neighbors in need. To all those who have contributed to the Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund, or directly to area nonprofits, and to the many organizations coordinating or providing much-needed services, we thank you and we celebrate you!
Here are the latest updates from the COVID-19 Response Fund, including recent grants, creative community participation, and stories from the field, including an update from the River Counties Community Foundation.
Grants from the Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund now exceed $2M
An advisory committee from the philanthropic, business and public sectors is reviewing and distributing grants from the Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund on a rolling basis. With a new round of grants awarded this week, total grantmaking from the fund now exceeds $2 million to 51 organizations and localities in the Central Virginia region.
The fund has continued to focus on early response efforts to mitigate the health impacts of the pandemic —including food access, health care and shelter. The latest grants are helping to expand food distribution to more rural jurisdictions and address increased need for mental health services and housing support.
The Power of Collective Giving
Total Giving to COVID-19 Response Funds
Community Foundation Fund Participation
Creative Community Giving
Volunteer Opportunities
Partner Stories
Helping those who need it most in the River Counties
In March, River Counties Community Foundation launched the River Counties COVID-19 Response Fund in partnership with the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund to support nonprofit partners addressing critical needs in the community, as well as organizations that will be crucial to the ongoing support and long-term recovery. Read More.
Thousands of volunteers support RPS meals program
Many students at Richmond Public Schools (RPS) depend on the meals they receive at school, so when school buildings closed in March as a precaution against COVID-19, RPS knew they needed a system to ensure kids still had access to the food they need. So far, over 2,000 volunteers have stepped up to help. Read more.
Q&A with Dr. Vivian Bruzzese, CrossOver Healthcare Ministry
Dr. Vivian Bruzzese is an infectious disease specialist who serves as the Director of HIV Programs with CrossOver Healthcare Ministry – a nonprofit organization that operates two charitable healthcare clinics in the Richmond region. We heard from Dr. Bruzzese to learn a little more about her position and how CrossOver is responding to the needs of their clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the Q&A.
Celebrating the Sector
An update on the Family Crisis Fund
Thanks to the generosity of our partners and the greater Richmond community the Family Crisis Fund is now positioned to deliver $500 individual payments to 2,360 families in our region. And the $1,180,000 fund continues to grow.
The Family Crisis Fund was launched on April 3rd and within days, disbursement of direct payments began, allowing for immediate and direct relief for families with children.
The is also open for individual donations. If you wish to donate, please follow these instructions to do so using your credit or debit card:
We continue to work with multiple partners and localities (Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and Petersburg) to identify families in need, disburse funds, and make sure recipients don’t have to navigate barriers associated with technology and financial literacy in order to receive much-needed support.
Family Crisis Fund partners include Henrico Education Foundation, Chesterfield Education Foundation, Family Lifeline, City of Richmond, Enrichmond Foundation, Community Foundation for a greater Richmond, Richmond Memorial Health Foundation, Flying Squirrels Charities, and individual donor, Clelin Ferrell.
No commitment is too small when addressing a situation of this magnitude. At Robins Foundation, we are thankful for the strategic, adaptable, and collaborative efforts between philanthropy, the nonprofit sector, our local government partners and individuals to engage in innovative philanthropy that inspires solutions to our community’s greatest challenges.
The Family Crisis Fund, launched earlier this month in partnership with the City of Richmond, is now accepting individual donations.
If you wish to donate, please follow these instructions to do so using your credit or debit card:
You will receive an email acknowledging your donation at the address provided in the “Billing and Contact Information” section.
Read more about the Family Crisis Fund, below.
Unprecedented Times Call for Bold Action
Tyonka Rimawi, Robins’ Program Officer, Community Partnerships, writes about how providing direct cash assistance to families in need as a result of job loss due to COVID-19 required an unparalleled level of due diligence and internal reflection, in this article published today in Nonprofit Quarterly. She also offers thoughts and guiding questions to other foundations considering new approaches during this unprecedented time.
Read the full article HERE.
Robins Foundation, in Partnership with the City of Richmond, Launches $1 Million Family Crisis Fund
Families with children are in direct and immediate need of support during the current states of emergency in Richmond and Virginia due to job loss from the COVID-19 pandemic.
To mitigate the impact on our most vulnerable children and families, Robins Foundation, in partnership with the City of Richmond has launched a Family Crisis Fund. Seeded with matching $500,000 contributions by Robins Foundation and the City of Richmond, funds from this initiative can be disbursed to families soon as April 7-8th, allowing for immediate financial relief for families and immediate impact on the local economy. This will meet critical needs while families and local communities prepare for the federal stimulus to be activated within the next 60 days.
In partnership with Family Independence Initiative (FII), this stimulus program is being launched on a platform that allows us to work closely with three of our four strategic partner communities who continue to work with children and families during this crisis – Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico.
Through an innovative public-private partnership, The Enrichmond Foundation and the City of Richmond’s Office of Community Wealth Building will coordinate one-time family stimulus gifts for families with children in the City of Richmond.
Chesterfield Education Foundation and Chesterfield County Public Schools will also implement the initiative as will Henrico Education Foundation in partnership with Henrico County Public Schools Office of Family Engagement. The platform also allows us the flexibility to add other nonprofit partners as opportunities are identified moving forward.
Our actions are motivating peer funders and individuals to get involved as well. These donors are pledging to join the initiative and invest in this family-focused, place-based effort to support families during this unprecedented time of crisis while stimulating our economy.
Every commitment makes a difference in addressing a situation of this magnitude. We are thankful for the strategic, adaptable and collaborative efforts between philanthropy, the nonprofit sector, and our local government partners to contribute to relief efforts across Richmond and the Commonwealth through initiatives like this and the many others that have launched in response to the impact of COVID-19.
Robins Foundations Launches the Family Crisis Fund
In service to our neighbors and in line with our founders’ values, we are doing everything we can to address the impact of the COVID-19 crisis for children, families and the larger community we are so proud to serve and call home.
This includes contributing to the Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund, and easing restrictions on grants from 2019 and in 2020, by allowing funds to be used for general operating expenses.
There is still one group in our community hit particularly hard by the current COVID-19 crisis and in need of immediate help in the form of direct financial assistance: families with children.
To address those needs, Robins Foundation today launched the Family Crisis Fund.
Robins has contributed $500,000, and many of our peer funders and individuals will also contribute. We hope to work with over 1,000 families.
Funds from this initiative will be disbursed to families soon as April 7th or 8th, allowing for immediate and direct relief for families and immediate impact on the local economy while our neighborhoods and communities prepare for the federal stimulus and state unemployment benefits to be activated within in the next 60 days.
Every commitment makes a difference in addressing a pandemic of this magnitude. We are thankful for the strategic, adaptive and collaborative efforts between philanthropy, the nonprofit sector and our local government partners to contribute to relief efforts across Richmond and the Commonwealth through initiatives like this and the many others that have launched in response to the impact of COVID-19.
More information about the Family Crisis Fund, its benefits, our partners, and how families can access these funds, please stay tuned for updates, to be announced on Friday, April 3rd. #VirginiaTogether
Board approves $500,000 Contribution to The Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund
As the greater Richmond region works together taking unprecedented action to flatten the infection rate for COVID-19, many institutions, organizations, and businesses are adjusting their practices, or closing altogether. While this will help reduce or slow the spread of the virus it will also create challenges for our most vulnerable children and families. We continue to focus on how that will impact the children who attend area public schools, especially those who attend Richmond Public Schools.
The Robins Foundation board has approved a $500,000 contribution to The Central Virginia COVID-19 Response Fund – a regional emergency response fund that will support the immediate and ongoing needs of local nonprofit organizations as they respond to the implications of COVID-19 in our community. The fund was activated by The Community Foundation for a greater Richmond, in partnership with the Emergency Management Alliance of Central Virginia and PlanRVA.
The fund will be administered as a public/private partnership between philanthropy, local government, and the nonprofit sector. Seeded with a $500,000 contribution from the Community Foundation, the fund has quickly grown to $3 million (as of this posting) with additional contributions from Altria, Atlantic Union Bank, Bank of America, The Cabell Foundation, Capital One, CarMax Foundation, Dominion Energy, Genworth, Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, VCU Health System, Wells Fargo and several individual donors.
For more information about the fund, please CLICK HERE to read the full announcement released by the Community Foundation.
The board made other decisions as well.
This grant opportunity has been created to assist small, women- and minority-owned businesses financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MBL Small Business Recovery Fund grant application is now available. Apply today!
Application Closing Date: Friday, May 29, 2020 at 5:00 PM EST.
Visit https://lnkd.in/dmwaBsp, for more information on The Metropolitan Business League Small Business Recovery Fund Grant.