So much has changed in the world in the four months since we launched our Crisis Community Care (CCC) Fund as part of our efforts to support community groups responding to COVID-19, and whose work is being impacted by the factors surrounding the pandemic.
Through the CCC Fund, we have been able to support organizations on the frontlines of the pandemic. Not only this, we have also moved resources to organizing efforts addressing the systemic racism that has resulted in the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has on Black people and communities. This means direct, no-strings-attached support for Black-led and centered racial justice efforts in the Northwest.
We know this timely support for our communities is critical to maintaining the infrastructure of LGBTQ+ services and organizing efforts in the region—and our support of these efforts was possible because of the foundations and donors like you who have contributed to the fund. We are so grateful for this support, and so encouraged by the ongoing generosity we are experiencing.
At a time when I think we can all use some good news, we wanted to share some highlights from these crisis response efforts:
- Through the support of ally institutional funders and individual donors, we have raised more than $500,000 for the CCC efforts. Combined with the nearly $300,000 we’ve invested in the fund from our own reserves and discretionary resources, we have raised more than $800,000 so far to support and care for our communities—and we’re still going.
- So far, over three rounds of funding, we have awarded more than $430,000 to 70 incredible groups and organizations across the Northwest. We will move the rest of these resources out in the coming months through additional rounds of funding and our Community Grants Program.
- During the last round of funding, we made one of the largest discretionary grants in Pride Foundation history: $30,000 to the WA Black Trans Task Force. This newly formed group of Black Trans Femmes is providing COVID-related support services and serving as an intergenerational leadership hub for QTBIPOC organizers to support grassroots organizing efforts addressing anti-Blackness, racism, violence against Black trans women, and police brutality.
The world we are living in right now is unpredictable and often overwhelming. But it’s also a time filled with incredible potential for change, and now is the time to do everything we can to usher that change in. We couldn’t be more grateful to be in community with you, the individuals and organizations leading us into that brighter future.
Katie Carter is Pride Foundation CEO.