COVID-19 Recovery Fund Grantees

The COVID-19 Recovery Fund provided grants to organizations addressing the enduring impact of the pandemic on the economic, physical and mental health of the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community. In partnership with The James Irvine Foundation, we raised $1.3M supporting organizations across the state with $300k to nonprofits in Southern California through our partner Asian Pacific Community Fund and $1M distributed to the Bay Area nonprofits listed below who are doing extraordinary work to serve our most vulnerable.

GRANTEE PROJECTS & PROGRAMS

AACI — Multilingual phone based and technology program for isolated seniors to increase social connection and to improve mental health.

APA Family Support Services — Counseling and self-care in-service support trainings for both clients and staff for mental health and well-being from pandemic-related issues such as job loss and anti-Asian crimes.

API Equality – Northern California (APIENC) — Pilot peer-counseling program to address immediate mental health needs of transgender and non-binary AAPI people.

Asian Health Services — COVID-19 AAPI Advancing Equity Project combining data collection, advocacy, and a boots on the ground approach to enhance community response to address public safety and vaccine hesitancy.

Asian Law Alliance — Legal services and community education for anti-Asian racism and violence incidents, housing/evictions issues, unemployment issues, Know Your Rights workshops, and mental health referrals.

Asian Pacific American Community Center — Increased staffing to maintain quality of services for San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley residents due to higher demand from COVID-19 related issues such as job loss and rise in anti-Asian incidents. It also supports educating residents on vaccines, safety awareness, and distribution of personal safety kits.

Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence — Efforts to collaborate with other organizations to inform and influence the development of a public charge rule that supports and allows AAPI survivors of gender-based violence to access resources, and to educate survivors on current available COVID-19 resources and benefits regardless of immigration status.

Asian Women’s Shelter — Emergency financial and legal assistance, holiday gifts to clients during increased emotional isolated periods, and supporting the hiring of additional hourly program staff from the organization’s trained language advocate and volunteer pools.

Bindlestiff Studio — Mental health performing arts project, focused on the Philippine SOMA (South of Market Area) population in San Francisco.

Charity Cultural Service Center — Hot meals prepared by current culinary students for SRO families living in/near San Francisco Chinatown which will improve student’s culinary job skills while decreasing the need for unsafe gatherings in SRO shared kitchen spaces.

Chinatown Community Development Center — Integrating a health strategy into resident services programs due to an increasing housing portfolio of residents who come from a history of addiction, homelessness, and past and/or current trauma.

Chinese for Affirmative Action — Support Chinese and AAPI immigrants through the ongoing challenges of the pandemic by providing community navigation/referral services and digital literacy support, and by advancing improvements to local language access policy.

Chinese Newcomers Service Center — Return to Work Program for low-skilled, limited English proficient clients who have been out of work for 18 months or longer to help them return to work and stay employed.

Chinese Progressive Association — Outreach, education, and leadership development for Chinese immigrant workers on workplace rights and benefits, to equip them with the tools to lead a regional worker-centered policy platform—Worker Bill of Rights—for a just and equitable economic recovery.

Community Health for Asian Americans — Navigation assistance for benefits, outreach and education to low vaccinated immigrant and refugee populations, and mental health counseling to combat stress related to increased anti-Asian crimes and incidents.

Community Youth Center of San Francisco — A youth advocacy campaign and school curriculum to disrupt the incidence and impacts of hateful speech and bullying. Trained CYC youth leaders will implement the curriculum with partner schools across San Francisco and take the lead on an anti-bullying social media campaign.

Family Bridges — Meal distribution, wellness check-in phone calls, and intensive social services to Oakland’s low-income, Asian senior residents as the COVID-19 pandemic endures.

Friends of Children with Special Needs — Safety and bystander intervention workshops, education on vaccines and boosters, and training on COVID-19 safety precautions for AAPI special needs individuals and their families. It also supports the recruitment and retention of additional staff.

Gum Moon — Safety awareness for AAPI seniors and parents, mental health check-ins, counseling when mental health needs are identified, basic needs assistance to very low-income participants, education on booster and children’s vaccines, and digital workshops for seniors to help them stay connected

Helping Hands East Bay — Services to help disabled adults seek employment, mental health support for parents/caregivers, and upgrading technology to provide better remote services.

ICAN — Emergency financial assistance to at-risk Vietnamese families for homelessness and to increase digital inclusion with Vietnamese language digital literacy classes, assistance with low internet costs, and free laptops.

J-Sei — Mental and physical health support for elders with case management, home delivered and onsite Japanese meals, and wellness checks.

Korean American Community Services — Strengthening a Korean American caregiving network in the South Bay with a larger pool of trained Korean speaking caregivers that can support the essential services needed for isolated frail seniors and prevent caregiver burnout.

Korean Community Center of the East Bay — Efforts to increase vaccination and booster awareness for Asian and other immigrant/refugee LEP communities with education and outreach, co-hosting vaccination/booster clinics, and strengthening a partnership with the Alameda County Public Health Department to ensure the needs of LEP communities are met.

Lao Family Community Development — Rental and utility assistance to prevent homelessness for AAPI clients who have lost their jobs and are not eligible for CARES Act assistance or other COVID-19-related government relief assistance.

Maitri — Workshops focused on supporting mental health well-being and translation of resources available to survivors pertaining to physical safety, legal alternatives, individual rights, safety planning documents, and housing options.

Narika — Increasing essential services for domestic violence clients due to higher rates of crisis hotline calls as well as training and education workshops on workforce development and financial literacy so clients can gain long-term financial stability and independence.

NICOS Chinese Health Coalition — Outreach and education to San Francisco’s Chinese community on the availability of no-cost and low-cost health insurance programs such as Covered California, Medi-Cal and Healthy San Francisco, and to provide enrollment/renewal application assistance.

Samoan Community Development Center — Community workshops and presentations to the Samoan and PI community to educate and correct misinformation in the community on COVID-19 safety protocols, testing, and vaccines.

San Francisco Community Health Center — Addressing anti-Asian racism and violence towards the AAPI community’s most vulnerable members, especially longtime survivors of HIV, Hepatitis B, and vascular disease who often lack higher education and are estranged from their families of origin.

Self-Help for the Elderly — Escort services program for seniors that provides transportation to essential appointments in San Francisco, San Mateo and Alameda counties.

Southeast Asian Community Center — Outreach, workshops, forms assistance, education on misinformation about vaccines, and mental health support for clients to meet continuing essential basic needs exacerbated by the pandemic.

Southeast Asian Development Center — Hiring a bi-lingual Vietnamese speaking family liaison to encourage more parental involvement for limited English proficient at-risk students who attend SEADC’s after-school youth development program.

SteppingStone — Expansion of food delivery service, augmented health support services, increased virtual programming, and intensified doorstep wellness visits for disabled seniors.

Taulama for Tongans — Address well-being of seniors through health programs, physical and mental exercises, and chances to share their histories and ancestry, and/or on how COVID-19 has affected their lives, resulting in reduced isolation and increased interaction with friends, family, and community.

The Richmond Neighborhood Center — Food pantries and home deliveries to frail seniors and some SRO families, partnering with CYCSF’s citywide “Street Violence Intervention Program” for patrols to be present during food pantry giveaway hours, perform wellness checks during home deliveries to seniors, host safety and defense workshops, and do community outreach and education encouraging solidarity for all racial groups to fight AAPI hate.

Vietnamese American Community Center of the East Bay — Outreach and education to immigrant and refugee families to make better informed decisions by addressing anti-vaccine myths and working with local partners, community leaders, and other messengers to improve vaccination rates and vaccine confidence.

Yu-Ai Kai — Senior Daycare, Caregivers Support Group, Grief Support Group, and wellness check programs services to San Jose Japantown’s frail and vulnerable seniors in need of social services, food security, referral assistance, and social interaction.

 

Thank You to Our Partners