Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund Helps Provide Relief for Southern Delaware
COVID-19 has hit Southern Delaware hard, affecting not only individuals and families, but also the nonprofit organizations that improve quality of life in Kent and Sussex Counties by providing services ranging from housing and food to the arts and education.
As the communities’ needs rose during the pandemic – with heightened unemployment, greater food insecurity, and the need for virtual education and healthcare, to name a few – nonprofits lost resources as they were forced to cancel fundraisers and saw individual donations dwindle.
But Kent and Sussex County nonprofits have served the community well, thanks in part to support from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund, a partnership of the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF) and Philanthropy Delaware.
Since March 27, 2020 the fund has provided $2.5 million in grants – including more than $750,000 to organizations serving exclusively Kent and Sussex County – to nonprofits providing meal delivery to homebound elderly, supplies for disabled veterans, emergency housing for women and children in abusive households, telehealth and more.
Stories from the applications can be heartbreaking, said Allison Taylor Levine, DCF vice president for marketing & communications.
“The original plan was for the Strategic Response Fund to address the community’s longer-term needs related to the pandemic,” Levine said. “But when we saw the needs in the applications, we realized that the bulk of the money had to go to critical services. Food. Housing. Health care and particularly mental healthcare has been overwhelmed.”
Among the grantees was Sussex County Habitat for Humanity, which received a $40,000 grant to complete two houses and provide emergency mortgage relief for families that lost their jobs because of the pandemic.
“Emergency funding from the COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund was essential to keep our organization building through the COVID-19 pandemic,” Executive Director Kevin Gilmore said. “We were able to roof-in two homes in Milton to protect them from the elements. Without this, rain and moisture would have damaged the wood frame already constructed. We were also able to finish construction of two other homes in Sussex County. Two families will be able to purchase their homes months before they would have if no emergency funding was received.”
The Strategic Response Fund has paid particular attention to low-income and historically underrepresented communities, which have been especially hard hit by the pandemic. First State Community Action Agency in Georgetown received $40,000 to provide for basic needs of low-income families. “First State Community Action Agency has been one of our most dependable partners in helping to the meet the need of our most vulnerable populations,” said Mike DiPaolo, DCF’s vice president for southern Delaware. “Their trusted position in the community has allowed us to reach both broadly and deeply in Sussex.”
In Kent County, Dover’s Modern Maturity Center plays a critical role in not only the state capital area, but in coordinating work for the elderly and other disadvantaged populations across central Delaware. Strategic Response Fund grants are helping the Modern Maturity Center and numerous other senior centers ensure that older Delawareans have healthy meals. Modern Maturity volunteers received a timely assist from Delaware National Guard soldiers during an emergency food distribution event on May 13, when 20 active duty soldiers delivered hundreds of food boxes to Meals on Wheels clients. Volunteers delivered more than 1,500 meals around Kent County that day.
While the fund initially focused on the overwhelming requests to meet critical human needs, grantmaking has expanded in recent weeks to support the arts, environment, pets and more. Among recent southern Delaware grantees are Clear Space Theatre Company, Arise Delaware and Rehoboth Art League.
“Receiving support from the DCF’s COVID-19 Fund allowed the Art League to continue on until we can get to our summer season, which is critical for us from a programming and financial basis,” Rehoboth Art League Executive Director Sara Ganter said.
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About the Fund
The Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund is part of the Delaware COVID-19 Emergency Response Initiative, a nonprofit collaborative response to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. The DCF, Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement, Philanthropy Delaware and United Way of Delaware are partnering to coordinate charitable resources to maximize impact statewide during this crisis.
The Strategic Response Fund is believed to be one of the nation’s most responsive COVID-19 grantmaking programs. Between March 23 and May 22, the DCF received, processed, and awarded grants weekly. Two rounds of grants are being awarded in June, and then the program will move to monthly grants for the remainder of 2020. For information about how to apply, visit delcf.org/covid-grants.
The Strategic Response Fund has already raised almost $4 million to date, and fundraising continues. The fund already includes generous gifts from the Longwood Foundation ($1.5 million), Barclays ($500,000), New Castle County ($500,000), Welfare Foundation ($200,000), CSC ($100,000), Crestlea Foundation ($100,000), Fund for Women ($100,000), Highmark ($100,000), Laffey-McHugh ($100,000), Discover ($75,000), DCF ($75,000), DuPont ($75,000), M&T ($50,000), JP Morgan Chase ($30,000), Bank of America ($25,000), TD Bank ($25,000), WSFS Bank ($25,000) and others. The DCF also has waived all administrative fees for this fund, so that 100 percent of the funds are going to organizations helping people in need. More than 250 individual donors have contributed $132,000.
The council is continuing to actively raise money to be able to respond to community needs, said DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay. “As the pandemic continues, the needs are growing and evolving,” Comstock-Gay said. “We are calling on the community to help local nonprofit organizations get food, shelter, medical care and other essential services directly to the people who need it most. We also must support our workforce, arts community and other sectors to restore our quality of life post-COVID-19.”
Double the Impact of Your Gift
The Longwood Foundation, which had already given $1.5 million to the fund, recently issued its second $500,000 challenge grant. For every dollar the DCF raises, Longwood will match it up to $500,000. The deadline is Aug. 31.
To make a gift that qualifies for the match, give online at delcf.org/covid19-fund or contact Mike DiPaolo, Vice President for Southern Delaware, at mdipaolo@delcf.org.
About Philanthropy Delaware
Philanthropy Delaware serves as the state association of grantmakers to advance philanthropy in the first state by connecting key stakeholders to drive meaningful impact for all Delawareans.
About the Delaware Community Foundation
The mission of the Delaware Community Foundation is to improve the lives of the people of Delaware by empowering and growing philanthropy through knowledge and relationships, now and in the future. As a facilitator, information resource and manager of charitable funds, the DCF helps communities and philanthropists focus charitable resources for the greatest community benefit statewide. For more information, visit delcf.org or call 302.571.8004.
