Announcing Round Seven of COVID-19 Grants Totaling More Than $2.6 Million

With this seventh round of grantmaking from the CDP COVID-19 Response Fund, we continue our focus on domestic and international organizations working to support the response to and recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we track the spread of the pandemic and note the populations most disproportionately affected by it, we work to direct funding to those locations and organizations working with the most vulnerable.

For round seven, we granted a total of $2,639,273.59 to 16 organizations. The full breakdown includes $850,000 in domestic grants and $1,789,273.59 in international grants:

• AirLink – $150,000 to provide a coordinated aviation response for supplies to prevent, contain and address the effects of the pandemic on countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
• American Nurses Foundation – $150,000 to support direct financial assistance and education and care to nurses working on the frontlines of COVID-19 response.
• Asia Foundation ­­– $200,000 to create new economic opportunities for vulnerable under/unemployed job-seeking youth and help small and medium businesses maintain business continuity, survive and adapt for a post–COVID-19 world in Myanmar. Additionally, grant funds will target gaps in access to financial literacy, smooth reintegration of returning migrant workers and greater income security among micro- and small-business women entrepreneurs whose livelihoods have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19 in Nepal.
• Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada – $75,000 for their Child & Family Crisis Support Program to provide emergency relief support to the vulnerable children and families they serve.
• Corus International (Lutheran World Relief/IMA World Health) – $250,000 to support their partnership with local organizations in Peru that are working to improve access to psychosocial and livelihoods recovery services and crucial COVID-19 information for Venezuelan refugees and migrants living there.
• Global Fund for Children – $250,000 to support up to 20 local partner organizations focused on working with children and their families in identified areas with the most acute needs in Central and South Asia, the Caribbean & Africa.
• Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC) – $175,000 to support projectConnect to provide WiFi connectivity for up to 5,000 students and families in rural, tribal & underserved urban communities to facilitate their ability to participate in distance learning, telehealth and more.
• Kids Help Phone Canada – $75,000 to expand their crisis text line and expand and mobilize their trained volunteer base to provide critical psychosocial support for Canadian children, with a particular focus on Indigenous youth in rural and remote areas.
• MedAir – $200,000 to support national efforts to reduce COVID-19 transmission in Lebanon and Sudan. In Lebanon, MedAir aims to provide quality health care and site management for a Level 3 isolation center for Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese. In Sudan, the project will provide lifesaving integrated WASH/NFI kits and essential behavior change communication around COVID-19 awareness and hygiene practices to high-risk individuals.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline – $125,000 to support building trained hotline staff capacity to respond to increased contact volume as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic effects on victims of domestic violence.
• National Domestic Workers Alliance – $125,000 to provide direct cash assistance to those in critical need, to support domestic workers with information, other resources and personal protective equipment so they can continue to work safely. Additionally, funds will allow NDWA to advocate on workers’ behalf for local, state and federal policy changes to improve their work conditions and allow them access to available support resources.
• Near East Foundation – $150,000 to provide a suite of rapid interventions to help vulnerable entrepreneurs, small-scale farmers and food processors adapt their operations and protect their working capital, assets and jobs. The ultimate goal is to support the survival and resilience of businesses, small-scale agriculture and market systems that provide critical income, employment and food security. Locations for the work include Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Sudan.
• Partnership with Native Americans – $150,000 to support mostly rural and geographically isolated tribal communities by providing food, water, essential supplies and PPE for roughly 500 households.
• Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) – $125,000 to support hiring additional staff to respond to pandemic-related increased requests for support and resources for victim services.
• Relief International – $225,000 to support RI’s COVID response in rural areas in the Philippines by empowering vulnerable women with a market-driven livelihood that also supplies PPE needs to frontline caregivers amid the pandemic.
• Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS-US) – $214,273.59 to support their work with Syrian refugees in Greece and Lebanon in addressing their needs related to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This seventh round brings the total in CDP COVID-19 Response Fund grants to $17.4 million awarded to 119 grantees. This includes seven grants made in collaboration with the CDP Midwest Early Recovery Fund and two grants made to one organization in collaboration with the CDP Global Recovery Fund.

As the world faces even more tragic disasters layered on top of this global pandemic – wildfires, hurricanes, explosions, monsoons and more – we must pay attention to building resiliency in the communities where we are funding, knowing that they need to better prepare for the effects of disasters to mitigate the long-term cycle of recovery.

As always, I encourage you to continue to stay safe, be kind, be graceful and keep a safe distance and mask up to protect yourself and others.