St. David’s Opens Second Phase Of COVID-19 Recovery Funding

The St. David’s Foundation has opened a second phase of COVID-19 recovery funding to address the health and economic impacts of the pandemic.

The organization began accepting applications on Monday, July 20 after issuing the first phase of funding to organizations in June.

The foundation said it created the fund in April 2020 and never could have imagined the pandemic’s impact on Central Texas.

After nearly five months, reports of the virus’ spread continue to rise causing more alarm and need across the region as businesses continue to suffer closures and other impacts of the virus.

According to new data from the CDC, Latino and Black people living in the U.S. have been three times as likely to become infected as their white neighbors and are nearly twice as likely to die from the virus as white people.

As cases increase and more data becomes available, Black and Latino populations are shown to be disproportionately affected by COVID across the country.

St. David’s Foundation said they prioritized funding for populations who are inequitably bearing the brunt of this virus for the crisis.

These populations include people of color; refugees and immigrants (regardless of legal status); people experiencing homelessness; people living with disabilities; and LGBTQ communities.

“While we have yet to realize the full impact of COVID-19, the Foundation is committed to adapting our recovery strategy and identifying areas where critical resources are most lacking,” the foundation said. “Based on community feedback, listening and learning from local leadership and synthesizing data from trusted resources, we’ve heard an outpouring of need related to four key priorities: behavioral health and emotional well-being, basic needs, childcare and access to health care services.”

The following categories are the main funding priorities for Phase II.

1. Behavioral Health and Emotional Well-Being: According to a briefing by Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, the pandemic, along with the economic impact of mitigation efforts imposed to control it, are expected to increase the rate of mental health and substance use disorders, including deaths associated with suicide, overdose and violence (especially intimate partner violence and child abuse).

2. Basic Needs: As families cope with new financial challenges, our partners have shared ongoing stories of serious material hardships, including the inability to pay rent, mortgage or utility bills, as well as experiencing food insecurity and forgoing medical care because of the cost.

3. Childcare: Childcare is critical for recovery. Adequate and affordable childcare is needed to allow parents to resume work, families to manage stress and children to acquire necessary social, emotional and cognitive skills. These stressors will only continue as parents grapple with the choice of remote or in-person classes this fall.

4. Access to Health Care Services: Many low-income and/or uninsured individuals in our community receive crucial health care services from nonprofit organizations. Health care nonprofits have been required to quickly transition to continue to provide services to their patients in need, including implementing new infectious disease protocols as well as other shifts.

The application for Phase II of the COVID-19 Recovery Fund opened on July 20 and can be found here. Details regarding funding priorities, application questions, and eligibility can be found here. Please note, the deadline for applications is August 13, 2020, at 3:00 PM CST.