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Over $1.7 Million in COVID-19 Rapid-Response Grants Released by Rose Community Foundation

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Update: On April 17 the Foundation made an additional grant to Shalom Park’s COVID-19 relief efforts, bringing the grantmaking total to $1,705,754.

Denver, CO – In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rose Community Foundation awarded over 120 grants totaling $1,566,754. The Foundation’s grants were directed to nonprofit organizations and government agencies on the front lines of COVID-19 prevention, containment and response and are specifically aimed at supporting the Greater Denver region’s most vulnerable and impacted populations.

Utilizing the Foundation’s equity lens, grants were made to organizations serving people whose health and safety are especially impacted by this public health crisis, including older adults, those who are medically vulnerable, domestically at-risk, food insecure, homeless or housing insecure, or students entering remote learning environments without adequate supports. The grantees include a combination of longstanding Foundation partners as well organizations the Foundation has not previously funded. They are varied in type, size and scope, but together, these grantees share a collective commitment to the Foundation’s values of empathy, equity, justice and generosity.

The Foundation’s grants package includes a $100,000 contribution to the Colorado COVID Relief Fund. Rose Community Foundation Trustee Roxane White is co-chairing this statewide relief fund, and Rose Community Foundation President and CEO Lindy Eichenbaum Lent is serving on its leadership committee.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to support grantee partners who are working tirelessly on the ground to serve individuals and communities in the Greater Denver region that are most severely impacted by the health, safety, educational and economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Lent. “As this crisis evolves, Rose Community Foundation will continue to listen to and learn from our community and continually work to identify emerging funding needs and opportunities.”

In addition to $1.11 million in programmatic grantmaking from its corpus in this first round of response grants, Rose Community Foundation’s donor-advised fundholders have directed over $450,000 in grants to local, national and international organizations. From March 16 to April 1, 30 donor-advised funds made 71 unique grants totaling $455,754, including COVID-19-specific response grants and accelerated support for organizations feeling the economic disruption of COVID-19.

“In this time when we cannot physically connect to others in our community, we can come together through our giving,” said Vice President of Philanthropic Services Sarah Indyk. “It has been breathtaking and hope-inspiring to witness the reach and scale of our fundholders’ generosity over the past few weeks.”

This collection of grants – focused primarily on prevention, containment and emergency response to the basic need impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations – represents the first of three anticipated COVID-19 grantmaking phases for Rose Community Foundation. Future grantmaking will develop to meet evolving community needs and will likely address impact mitigation and, eventually, recovery and stabilization efforts. Donors who are interested in partnering with the Foundation on future COVID-19 response funding can contribute here.

Details of Rose Community Foundation’s first round of COVID-19 response grants and the populations they aim to serve are outlined below:

COLORADO COVID RELIEF FUND – Recognizing the importance of coordination and the need to raise significant dollars, Rose Community Foundation contributed $100,000 to help Governor Polis launch a statewide fund to address the most acute community needs across the state by supporting the prevention, impact and recovery needs of community-based organizations in Colorado.

DOMESTICALLY AT-RISK – Recognizing that the current stay-at-home orders present heightened safety risks for some in our community, Rose Community Foundation granted a combined $60,000 for the following organizations supporting domestic violence survivor service providers and organizations working to prevent child abuse:

FOOD INSECURE – Recognizing that the economic disruption of the COVID-19 response is exacerbating food security challenges, a combined $145,000 is granted to the following organizations providing food to low-income, food insecure and newly-unemployed individuals and families:

HOMELESS AND HOUSING INSECURE – Recognizing that housing security is impacted by the economic disruption of COVID-19, that individuals without homes are at greater risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, and that homeless service providers are facing a new set of COVID-19-related needs and demands, a combined $145,000 is granted for organizations that serve homeless and housing insecure individuals to address daily changing needs related to COVID-19 relief (staff, personal protective equipment, food, hygiene and cleaning supplies, respite care, etc.).

IMMIGRANTS – Recognizing that the COVID-19-related economic disruption is severely impacting immigrant communities – which may have language, cultural or legal barriers to accessing emergency government assistance – Rose Community Foundation is granting a combined $130,000 for immigrant-serving organizations to be used for translation services, meeting increased organizational demands and supporting emergency basic needs.

JEWISH COMMUNITY – Given Rose Community Foundation’s longstanding support of – and partnership with – the Jewish community, a combined $131,000 is being granted to support Jewish organizations’ front-line COVID-19 response efforts, serving members of the Jewish community and the community-at-large, via food access, meal delivery, mental health services, emergency financial assistance and more.

MEDICALLY VULNERABLE – Understanding that Denver is home to world-class medical facilities on the front line of expanding our regional testing and treatment capacity as well as safety net clinics providing medical support to communities at risk for increased health inequities and disparities during this crisis, a combined $207,500 is being granted to the following medical organizations:

OLDER ADULTS – Understanding that older adults are at greater risk of COVID-19 complications and bear significant impacts from the mandated physical distancing, Rose Community Foundation is granting a combined $85,000 to the following umbrella organizations utilizing service agencies and other essential community partners to provide food, personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies, and medication pickup and delivery for older adults:

RESOURCE COORDINATORS – Recognizing that community needs are vast and evolving rapidly, a combined $17,500 is granted for the following organizations that are aligning COVID-19 community needs with philanthropic and private-sector resources and responses:

REMOTE LEARNERS – Understanding that school district closures present unique challenges for students whose primary source of nutrition was school and/or who are not technologically equipped to access now-mandatory remote learning opportunities, Rose Community Foundation is granting a combined $90,000 for the following organizations to address the food needs of students and their families and/or students’ technology needs (devices, connectivity, etc.) from K-12 through college (Metro Denver community colleges, Metropolitan State University of Denver and Emily Griffith Technical College).

DONOR-DIRECTED GRANTS – 71 grants totaling $455,754

Rose Community Foundation’s donor-advised fundholders are accelerating their giving in response to the COVID-19 crisis and have made 71 grants in the past three weeks, totaling $455,754. Many of these grants support organizations working on the front lines of community response and others are gifts to nonprofits impacted by the economic disruption caused by COVID-19.

About Rose Community Foundation

Rose Community Foundation strives to advance inclusive, engaged and equitable Greater Denver communities through values-driven philanthropy. The Foundation envisions a thriving region strengthened by its diversity and generosity, and it utilizes the varied tools at its disposal – grantmaking, advocacy and philanthropic services – to advance this aspiration. Since its founding in 1995, the Foundation has granted more than $304 million to 1,901 organizations and initiatives, including $44 million in facilitated grantmaking from donor-advised funds. The Foundation has also supported nearly 70 nonprofit organizations in creating and growing endowments to sustain their vital work into the future, currently stewarding $31 million in endowed assets. The Foundation has $307 million in total assets under management, with annual grantmaking of nearly $25 million.

© Rose Community Foundation.

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Suite 900
Denver, CO 80246

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