Yolo COVID-19 relief fund announces $290,000 in grants
Additional grants will be made in the near future by Yolo Community Foundation
The Yolo Community Foundation has announced $290,000 in grants, made through the Yolo COVID-19 Relief Fund.
The Relief Fund, a partnership between Yolo County, the Cities of Woodland, Winters, West Sacramento, and Davis, and the Yolo Community Foundation, has raised nearly $400,000 to date; additional grants will be made soon, according to officials.
The Relief Fund makes grants in two categories: Front-Line Response grants ($10,000-$30,000), to support organizations that are addressing problems that were created or exacerbated by COVID-19 and its fall-out, and Nonprofit Sustainability grants (up to $10,000), which support organizations that have been negatively affected by the crisis.
The Relief Fund will continue to accept and review applications until all funds are granted out, according to Jessica Hubbard, executive director of the Yolo Community Foundation.
The Foundation aims to inspire giving, supports philanthropists, and serves the nonprofit community throughout Yolo County. It presently has 60 philanthropic funds valued at over $4 million and is an affiliate of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation.
The first round of grants includes the following organizations:
Front Line Response Grantees
Empower Yolo ($30,000): Empower Yolo’s mission is to promote safe, healthy and resilient communities. Its centers offer programs that improve health, social, educational, and economic outcomes; and promote stability, and self-sufficiency for families. It has remained open throughout this difficult time to support survivors of abuse, families in need, the homeless, and immigrant communities.
Fourth & Hope ($20,000): Fourth and Hope provides food, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent supportive housing, and treatment services programs in Yolo County. During the COVID-19 crisis, programs and services have implemented additional health and safety measures for its staff and those it serves in order to continue to provide these essential services for the community.
Meals on Wheels Yolo County ($20,000): Meals on Wheels Yolo County provides and delivers nutritious meals directly to the homebound elderly. In response to COVID-19, the organization brought onto the program all on the waiting list, and continues to deliver five+ meals weekly, in addition to extra groceries, paper products, and personal care items as needed.
Mutual Housing California ($10,000): Mutual Housing provides safe and affordable homes to individuals and families who are economically disadvantaged; it works together with residents to build strong and inclusive communities that promote leadership opportunities. Its COVID-19 relief work includes ensuring its residents retain housing stability, have access to food and essential items and feel continued community connection.
RISE, Incorporated ($30,000): RISE, Incorporated is the hub for social services in the rural communities west of 505, serving children and families 0-5 through senior citizens. During COVID-19, it has provided resources and referral, enrollment services, and professional Mental Health Counseling, as well as emergency direct support to Farmworkers and the undocumented residents in the rural communities.
Short Term Emergency Aid Committee ($10,000): The Short Term Emergency Aid Committee, STEAC, helps low-income Yolo County residents with food, rent/utilities, education, job readiness, legal documents and more. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, STEAC recruited new volunteers and reconfigured procedures to safeguard clients and volunteers, increased referral agency coordination, broadened program reach, and increased fundraising efforts to meet a prolonged increase in demand and make up for shortfalls in food donations.
Suicide Prevention of Yolo County ($10,000): Suicide Prevention has provided crisis prevention, intervention, and education services for over 54 years. During this COVID-19 pandemic, callers are dealing with greater amounts of stress, resulting in more high-level de-escalation and active rescues. SPYC’S hard-working volunteers deal with COVID-19 effects in their lives while remaining compassionate for callers.
Winters Farm to School ($10,000): Winters Farm to School provides healthy, locally grown foods for Winters’ school meal programs. With COVID, hunger became a real issue for many families in Winters; Winters Farm to School is currently distributing over 3,500 meals per week and a weekly CSA box to anyone under 18 who needs food assistance.
Winters Healthcare Foundation ($30,000): Winters Healthcare supports people in their health journey by providing high quality primary, dental and behavioral health care to individuals on the West side of Yolo County. Winters Healthcare will be using grant money to help support patients infected with COVID via disease monitoring and contact tracing as well as prevention education via public advertising and social media.
Woodland’s Dinner on Main ($20,000): Woodland’s Dinner on Main is a California non-profit organization that promotes Yolo County’s agricultural bounty with an annual farm-to-fork chef-prepared meal celebrated in downtown Woodland in the middle of Main Street for three blocks. Yolo Delivers HOPE was created by Woodland’s Dinner on Main and has provided 10,000 locally-sourced meals for our families in need and home-bound seniors that are prepared by Yolo County restaurants.
Yolo County Children’s Alliance ($30,000): YCCA helps families and vulnerable populations to access health care, pregnancy and parenting support, food, and economic supports while developing the overall social fabric of our communities. Its COVID-19 relief connects people to the specific resources and information they need for their situation – from activity kits or diapers for parents to $25 food vouchers for use at the local Grocery Outlet.
Yolo Food Bank ($30,000): Yolo Food Bank (YFB) reduces poverty with free nutrition for low-income families, seniors, migrants, college students, and other vulnerable Yolo County residents. YFB’s COVID-19 response meets a more than 60% elevation in food assistance requests with more distribution locations, a home delivery service, and support for temporarily sheltered at-risk homeless.
Yolo Interfaith Immigration Network ($20,000): Yolo Interfaith Immigration Network (YIIN) serves and advocates for immigrant and migrant neighbors in Yolo County. YIIN‘s collaborative initiative is ApoYolo (Spanish for “support” Yolo), a community-based team of culturally competent, trained bilingual volunteers who work with immigrant families affected by COVID-19, helping them connect with community resources and offering cash assistance to meet essential rent and utility needs during this pandemic.
Nonprofit Sustainability Grantees
Putah Creek Council ($5,000): Putah Creek Council, founded in 1988, protects and enhances Lower Putah Creek, its watershed and tributaries, through advocacy, education and community-based stewardship using the best available scientific information. It envisions Putah Creek as a thriving corridor of native riparian and aquatic habitats connecting the Coast Ranges to the Sacramento River and the Delta.
Yolo Basin Foundation ($5,000): Yolo Basin Foundation’s mission is to expand the public’s appreciation and stewardship of the wetlands and wildlife in the Yolo Basin through education and innovative partnerships. It provides school field trips, wetland tours of the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, a California Duck Days festival, bat experiences and many other programs.
Yolo Community Care Continuum ($10,000): Yolo Community Care Continuum (YCCC) is a nonprofit mental health agency that provides services to very-low income adults suffering from a mental illness. YCCC strives to assist individuals with a mental illness to live as productively as possible in the community and to avoid homelessness and involuntary services.
The Relief Fund is part of the Yolo COVID-19 Relief Initiative. In addition to the Relief Fund, the Initiative also includes technical assistance for local nonprofits and and a donor engagement campaign, encouraging donors to support Yolo organizations.
