Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund awards $260K in grants

In its eighth round of weekly grants, the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund on May 29 awarded $260,592 to 19 nonprofit organizations providing services to communities throughout the state.

The grants will address a broad range of community needs during the pandemic. Grantees are Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children, $22,000 for virtual training to protect Delaware children and keep them safe from abuse; Brandywine Valley SPCA, $10,000 to provide veterinary care for pets of families in need in Kent County; Choir School of Delaware, $20,000 for summer camp programming in Wilmington; Code Purple Kent County, $12,000 to provide shelter and food for homeless people in Kent County; Delaware Art Museum, $10,775 to provide educational art kits for children in Wilmington; Delaware College Scholars, $18,000 for technology to support high-achieving public-school students from low-income families statewide; Downtown Visions, $10,000 to provide safety services and trash removal in downtown Wilmington; Easterseals Delaware & Maryland's Eastern Shore Inc., $30,000 for thermal scanners for Delaware locations statewide; EDGE for Tomorrow, $9,000 for technology to provide underserved children in Edgemoor with tutoring and mentoring; Fellowship Health Resources Inc., $6,500 for technology to provide telehealth services for individuals in recovery in Sussex County; Georgetown Public Library, $16,000 for sanitizing equipment and sneeze guards; Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County, $10,000 for technology to provide remote services and facilitate social distancing to reopen the ReStore; Harrington Senior Center, $2,500 to help them safely deliver food to seniors in Kent County; Latin American Community Center, $25,000 for emergency assistance for families in Greater Wilmington; Laurel Community Foundation Inc., $4,000 to provide emergency housing for homeless families in western Sussex County; Literacy Delaware, $15,567 for technology to provide virtual literacy instruction to adults statewide; Ministry of Caring Inc., $11,000 to make capital improvements to allow for safely relaunching dental services in Wilmington; One Village Alliance Inc., $15,000 to provide virtual tutoring, mentoring and support to underserved children in greater Wilmington; and Wilmington Children's Chorus, $13,250 to provide virtual summer programming.

In this eighth and final round of weekly grants, 56 applicants requested $1.4 million from the COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund, which is housed at the Delaware Community Foundation.

The fund, which launched March 18, has awarded $2.3 million to 94 Delaware nonprofits so far.

Based on the nature of the applications, initial grants focused largely on immediate community needs. In recent weeks, the grants have broadened to address a combination of immediate needs and broader community needs, including the arts, culture, the environment, workforce development, animal welfare and others.

This week marked the final round of weekly grants. The fund will accept additional grant applications June 15. The June grants will target nonprofit organizations, both large and small, playing key roles in various sectors throughout the state.

While the fund cannot address the sustainability of every nonprofit organization, the goal of these grants is to strengthen the sustainability of the sectors traditionally upheld by nonprofits.

These grants target solvent nonprofit organizations with solid plans for long-term fiscal sustainability and strong leadership and management. The plans should be responsive to the changing environment for funding, as well as evolving community needs. Organizations with a history of serving underserved populations will be favored.

The application for June grants are available at delcf.org/covid-grants.

The council is actively raising 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.”

The Longwood Foundation, which previously gave $1 million to the Strategic Response Fund, recently awarded a $500,000 grant, with the stipulation that the DCF was to raise a matching $500,000 from the community by May 30.

Grantees are selected through a rigorous process that involves a diverse team of more than 50 community leaders representing all three counties and a range of areas of expertise. Final decisions are made by the COVID-19 Grants Council: Stuart Comstock-Gay, president and CEO, DCF; Sheila Bravo, president, Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement, ex officio; Vernita Dorsey, WSFS; There du Pont, president, Longwood Foundation; Alan Levin, SoDel Concepts; Leslie Newman, retired CEO, Children & Families First; Enid Wallace-Simms, Delmarva Power; and Amy Walls, Discover Bank.

Applications are accepted weekly on a rolling basis and grants will be awarded weekly for as long as funding is available and community needs exist related to COVID-19. Each week, applications received by noon Monday will be reviewed, grantees will be selected Friday morning and funds will be transferred Friday afternoon.

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, DANA, PD and United Way of Delaware are partnering to coordinate charitable resources to maximize impact statewide during this crisis.

To contribute, visit delcf.org/covid19-fund.