BOSTON
- Saturday, May 9, 2020 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Boston Resiliency
Fund Steering Committee announced that the Boston
Resiliency Fund has raised $30.7 million from 5,755 donors since
launching in March. With 62 percent of donations under $100, the fund has
been fueled by not only major corporations and philanthropic partners, but
small dollar donations by thousands of individual Bostonians. In total, the
fund has distributed $16.2 million in funding to 178 organizations, and is
actively reviewing applications for the continued funding
announcements.
"Reaching this milestone is an
extraordinary testament to the generosity of Boston's people and
organizations, and to the hard work of public employees in City Hall and
dedicated partners around the City," said Mayor Walsh. "With the
guidance of the COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force, we've supported
diverse, grassroots organizations that are trusted in the community, employ
local people and provide direct services to residents. Resiliency is only
possible if equity is at the forefront."
Each
application for funding is reviewed by the Boston Resiliency Fund Review
Committee. The Review Committee is composed of more than 25 representatives
from a diverse cross-section of City department staff and applications are
reviewed with a lens towards equity and with learnings from the COVID-19
Health Inequities Task Force. To date, 40 percent of grantees are led by a
person of color, 63 percent are led by women, and together the Fund is
serving every neighborhood in Boston.
The
$16.2 million
in funding distributed to date has helped support over 130,000 Boston
families, and includes:
- $8.3 million to provide Boston's children,
families, and seniors with access to food and other basic
needs.
- 215,000 meals and 40,000 bags of
groceries created for families, seniors and adults.
- Distributed 478,000 more
pounds of food through the Greater Boston Food Bank.
- One month long supply of diapers
and formula for 250
families.
- 46,000 hygiene products for families
in need.
- Funding for 4,000 families
to grocery shop in their neighborhoods.
- Support for 20+ small,
minority-owned restaurants serve culturally conscious meals.
- Hiring 20 formerly
unemployed residents to help with food distribution and coordinating 2,200 volunteer
hours for 250+ individuals
at Boston meal sites.
- 3 additional Project BREAD hotline
counselors to respond to approximately 1,800 calls from Boston residents
about food insecurity.
- $5.9 million to expand the capacity of
healthcare systems to serve the vulnerable and those who have complex
needs, and provide support for healthcare and front-line workers.
- Expanded neighborhood-based
testing at 15 community
health centers.
- 4 safe community spaces for
unhoused individuals to access restrooms and basic hygiene and 2 outdoor
comfort stations staffed by street outreach staff.
- Emergency funding for 26 residential
recovery programs and 20
family shelter agencies.
- 15 quarantine beds for individuals
in recovery.
- Temporary emergency housing
options for 15
domestic violence survivors.
- 1 additional SafeLink advocate at
the statewide 24/7 toll-free domestic violence hotline.
- 960 emergency childcare seats in the
City of Boston for essential workers.
- Daily wellness check-ins
withBoston EMS through a chatbot developed in partnership with MIT and
New Urban Mechanics.
- $2 million for remote learning technology
for Boston's children.
- 8,000 additional chromebooks to
support remote learning for Boston's K-12 students.
The
Fund is continuing to accept donations at all levels from individuals,
organizations and philanthropic partners. All of the donations will be
awarded to local organizations, with the majority of future grants to be made
through the end of May.
Organizations
interested in receiving funding are encouraged to complete a statement
of interest to be considered for future grants.
As
the City of Boston's response to and recovery from COVID-19 continues, the
City and the Steering Committee will work closely with non-profit partners
and service providers to understand how the focus areas of the Fund should
evolve to address the most pressing needs of Boston's vulnerable
populations.
The
Steering Committee was established after the Fund's formation to provide
direct oversight and funding recommendations based on statement of interests
received and applications reviewed by the Review Committee. The three-member
committee includes Jack Connors, Jr., Anne Klibanski, MD, President and CEO
of Mass General Brigham, and Jeffrey Leiden, MD, PhD, Executive Chairman of
Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Goodwin Law serves as pro bono legal counsel to the
Fund.
"The
outpouring of support to help meet the basic needs of the city's most
vulnerable residents during this crisis has gone far beyond what we
envisioned when we launched the Resiliency Fund in March," said Jeffrey
Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Chairman at Vertex. "The fund has been
able to make an immediate impact in ensuring access to food for Boston's
children, families and seniors, expanding our health care capacity, and
helping students learn remotely while at home. I am so thankful to the
thousands of people who have donated what they could to reach this milestone,
and to the business and philanthropic leaders who sprang into action as well
- especially my partners in this effort Jack Connors and Anne
Klibanski."
The
Fund has received donations of $1 million or above from Berkshire Partners,
Michelle and Bob Atchinson, Bain Capital, Bank of America, Paul and Sandy
Edgerly, John & Cyndy Fish / Suffolk, Gross Family Foundation, John
Hancock, Liberty Mutual, Partners HealthCare, and the Vertex
Foundation.
The
Boston Resiliency Fund exists within the Boston Charitable Trust, an existing
501(c)(3) designated trust fund managed by the City of Boston's Treasury Department.
For more information on how to make a donation, please visit: boston.gov/resiliency-fund.
For general inquiries, please email brf@boston.gov.
"Eastie
Farm is delighted to be part of an innovative solution that helps ensure food
security in East Boston and Chinatown, while supporting our partners Bon Me
Restaurant and Tawakal Halal Cafe in sustaining themselves through this
economic crisis," said Kannan Thiruvengadam, director of Eastie Farm.
"We thank Bon Me and Tawakal for providing much needed culturally
sensitive meals at cost and with utmost attention to the health and safety of
all involved, and we thank Mayor Walsh for this generous support for Eastie
Farm's work in resiliency, and for his tireless and diligent leadership
during this challenging time."
"CommonWealth
Kitchen's CommonTable initiative mobilizes our diverse community of
restaurants and other food businesses to feed families in need," said
Jen Faigel, Executive Director of Commonwealth Kitchen. "It puts money
back into our hardest-hit communities, employing neighbors to feed their
neighborhoods. We're thrilled to have the support from Mayor Walsh and the
Boston Resiliency Fund to help us jumpstart this effort."
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