Korean American Community Foundation Distributes First Wave of COVID-19 Relief Grants Totaling $60,000
COVID-19 Community Action Fund
KACF is unwavering in our commitment to lifting up vulnerable Korean Americans during these difficult times and ensuring their economic security in the longer term. There is an increased and immediate urgency to that commitment right now. Since the start of pandemic, we have been in close communication with our grantee partners, many of whom have remained at the frontlines during time, providing essential services to vulnerable populations. Others were forced to move their team to remote work, while finding creative ways to deliver on their important mission for the Korean American community.
In this time of crisis, we are standing by our partners and increasing our support of their work by launching a COVID-19 Community Action Fund to provide immediate and longer-term support to our most vulnerable neighbors.
With generous donation from the community, we distributed the first wave of COVID-19 relief grants to seven nonprofit organizations totaling $60,000 on April 10. These organizations are working in the frontline of this pandemic to provide essential services to the most vulnerable Korean Americans. The funds will be used to spearhead urgent relief efforts for individuals and families affected by COVID-19, including Korean language assistance in completing unemployment and small business applications, increased domestic violence counseling, meal delivery, and a Korean language COVID-19 health hotline.
COVID-19 Community Action Fund Grants
- Asian American Federation (AAF): $5,000 to provide in-language resources to Korean and Chinese small business owners about COVID-19 relief measures.
- Asian Women’s Christian Association (AWCA): $10,000 to deliver Korean food baskets/grocery store gift cards to families who are facing economic hardships in the Bergen County area, as well as provide COVID-19 related information in Korean, Japanese and Chinese through its hotline and KaKaoTalk.
- Korean-American Physicians Association of NY (KAMPANY): $10,000 to operate COVID-19 medical hotline and offer telemedicine consultations in Korean language.
- Korean American Civic Empowerment (KACE): $10,000 to provide information and legal counseling about small business COVID-19 relief packages and unemployment benefits.
- Korean Community Services (KCS): $10,000 to help people impacted by COVID-19 to complete applications for unemployment, Economic Injury Disaster loans, Small Business loans and other relief programs offered by the government, as well as enroll those who are eligible for public benefit programs.
- Korean American Family Service Center (KAFSC): $10,000 to offer virtual and in-person counseling for families affected by intimate partner and family violence as the Center sees an increase in domestic violence during the pandemic.
- WomanKind: $5,000 to provide emergency shelter services for women and children affected by domestic violence, and the increasing needs to care for clients and frontline staff with the COVID-19 outbreak.