Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund makes first set of grants

The Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund has awarded $350,000 to 11 Delaware nonprofit organizations in its first round of grants on Friday, April 3.

The selection committee had to choose among 95 applicants requesting a total of $3.9 million.

“The applications showed the depth and strength of the nonprofits serving our state, and the depth of need for Delaware’s citizens,” said Delaware Community Foundation President and CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay, who chairs the fund’s decision-making council. “Selecting the organizations who received grants was a difficult process, because everybody who applied was worthy.  We are pleased we can help, and eager to keep doing more.”

The grants will address a broad range of community needs during the pandemic. Grantees are:

• Brandywine Counseling: $25,000 to meet increased demand for recovery services.
• Catholic Charities for Kent County: $10,000
• CHEER: $38,000 delivering additional meals to seniors at their homes.
• CHILD, Inc: $36,000 to provide housing for battered women and their children, meeting increased demand because of social distancing requirements.
• Community Resource Center for Sussex County: $10,000
• Easterseals of Delaware & Maryland’s Eastern Shore: $29,000 for telehealth equipment to provide child intervention services.
• Family Counseling of St. Paul: $22,000 to meet increased demand for family counseling services.
• Friendship House for New Castle County: $30,000
• Modern Maturity: $50,000 to deliver additional meals to seniors at their homes.
• Westside Family Healthcare: $50,000 for telehealth equipment to provide care for prenatal and chronically ill patients.
• YMCA: $50,000 for childcare for essential workers statewide.
• Housing vouchers for the homeless: $50,000

The fund, which has raised $1.5 million over the past few weeks, will award an additional $350,000 in grants on April 10, while the United Way of Delaware anticipates awarding an additional set of Rapid Response grants to nine organizations throughout the state on the same day.

“We decided to move our grants to bi-weekly to stretch it out longer and give our partners time to get the money into the community,” said United Way of Delaware President and CEO Michelle Taylor. While local corporations and foundations have been the major contributors to the $1 million plus fund, Taylor said she was particularly excited that 140 individual contributors have donated more than $26,000 so far.

“It just shows what a caring community we have because those individuals may also be giving elsewhere,” Taylor said.

Donors can contribute to the Rapid Response Fund at www.uwde.org/COVID19. The process for applying for grants from the Strategic Response Fund , which is being managed by DCF and Philanthropy Delaware, can be made at delcf.org/covid-grants. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis through Monday at noon each week with decisions made Fridays of the same week.  Donations can also be made at delcf.org/coronavirus.