$15 Million to Support Mental Health
Racial injustices perpetrated by systems built to keep people safe are exacerbating the coronavirus’s mental health impact on individuals and families across the United States.
Even as the majority of states have begun lifting restrictions in recent days, millions of Americans continue to face daunting challenges when it comes to their health, mental and economic wellbeing. In Newark, which has one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the country, senior citizens, low-income families and homeless individuals are facing impossible decisions everyday: whether to buy groceries or pay utility bills, risk eviction or risk crowded shelters. In Chicago, racial disparities are contributing to alarmingly disproportionate rates of infection and death among Black and Brown people. And throughout the U.S., mental health and suicide prevention support providers—particularly those serving children, at-risk students and LGBTQ youth—have seen a dramatic rise in demand for their services.
On June 18, in partnership with Jack Dorsey’s #StartSmall initiative, we are donating more than $15 million to organizations focused on addressing mental health issues, food insecurity, income loss and the needs of individuals excluded from federal stimulus programs in Newark and Chicago.
“Throughout the U.S., mental health and suicide prevention support providers—particularly those serving children, at-risk students and LGBTQ youth—have seen a dramatic rise in demand for their services.”
Funds will go to:
- Child Mind Institute to support the 150 first responder consultation calls, crisis support in 500 New York City public schools, capacity-building training for 150 educators and expanded access for the direct treatment of 1,200 at-risk students.
- JED Foundation to enable mental health experts to provide virtual consultations to campuses, trainings designed to help teens and young adults recognize and help their peers in distress, and workshops for businesses and community groups to educate parents on how to recognize a young adult in their life who may be struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Trevor Project to expand its remote crisis teams, recruit and train digital volunteers for TrevorText and TrevorSpace (an international social media platform that cultivates peer relationships and provides a truly safe space for LGBTQ youth), and increase the data security connections made between support staff and LGBTQ youth.
- Bright Star Community Outreach to provide rental assistance, expanded trauma support services and food access for low-income families in Chicago.
- Network’s Crisis Response Fund to provide rental and utility assistance, groceries and household needs for victims and survivors of domestic violence.
- Greater Chicago Food Depository to ensure food access and distribution points across Cook County remain intact through a network of 700 partners and programs, including pantries, youth-focused partners, soup kitchens and shelters.
- West Side United to support efforts focused on addressing health inequities and disparities to mitigate high rates of COVID-19 related illness and death in Chicago’s Black and Latino communities.
- Chicago Parks Foundation to support its Summer COVID-19 Youth Corps, a program that will provide youth with jobs related to the city’s COVID-19 response, such as conducting well-being checks with seniors, staffing food pantries and delivering food to home-bound individuals.
- Resurrection Project’s Cash Assistance Fund to provide economic assistance to the more than 340,000 Chicagoans excluded from the federal stimulus programs, such as undocumented individuals, mixed-status families, dependent adults and college students living in poverty.
- Newark Working Kitchens, through World Central Kitchen to support the distribution of 150,000 meals to food-insecure households, including senior citizens, low-income families and homeless individuals, in Newark.
- La Casa de Don Pedro Rental Relief Program to provide three months of rent payments, gift cards for groceries and essential goods, and access to housing counselors 50 days after the rent payment is made for 300 families in Newark.
- Newark Emergency Services for Families to support the operation of the homeless Drop-in Center, food pantry and meal programming, as well as rental and utility assistance for families on the brink of eviction.
Thank you to the Stadler Family Foundation which is generously matching the commitments to the organizations in Newark.
In response to the global coronavirus pandemic, over the past few months CLF and their partners have raised over $36 million for COVID-19 response efforts. These grants have helped on-the-ground organizations support, protect and prepare at-risk communities across the U.S. and internationally, as well as mobilize comprehensive solutions ranging from food and medical supply distribution to temporary shelter, mental health support and social services.
