Update: Emergency Response Fund

Mil gracias to our generous GiveBIG 286 donors who gave to our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. You helped raise over $46,000! The Beloved Community’s support makes it possible to provide emergency assistance to families hit hardest by the pandemic. Mil gracias again for your generosity, compassion, and support! The needs continue to grow daily, so please consider making a donation if you have not already.

Due to our community’s needs, our staff have received cross-training to address and respond to assistance requests in a way that is coordinated, thorough, and streamlined. Another part of our Emergency Response Fund effort is staff following up with participants and determining their needs. Meanwhile, staff are also responding to new assistance requests.

From March 16 to May 8, our staff totaled 3,572 phone calls regarding requests for emergency assistance. We have served 150 households with housing assistance, including making rental arrangements with landlords and reminding them of the City of Seattle’s extended moratorium on evictions. We have also provided 100 households with cash assistance so that they can purchase diapers, refill prescriptions, and meet other critical needs. We have helped nearly 500 families with grocery gift cards so that they can buy groceries.

COVID-19 reveals the depths of socioeconomic disparities among racial and ethnic groups and across our systems. We are all hurting, including Latinas who are among those hit hardest by the COVID-19 job losses and the undocumented community. When a family lives paycheck to paycheck, having a job is their only safety net, especially during a pandemic. Among Hispanic or Latino people, confirmed cases jumped by nearly 10 percentage points since mid-April, to 31%, compared with their 13% share of the overall population. Undocumented workers are overrepresented in the restaurant, hospitality, landscaping, and construction industries, and they are most at risk of contracting illnesses.

Because of your support of our Emergency Response Fund, our staff will help struggling families navigate through this crisis by providing assistance with food and rent. If you have not had a chance to donate to our Emergency Response Fund, please consider making a donation now. Every dollar adds up and every dollar goes directly to families in need.

Respetuosamente,

Estela Ortega
Executive Director