COVID-19

Woods Fund Statements

Woods Fund Chicago COVID-19 Statement to our Grantee Partners

Woods Fund Chicago has prided itself in its support of communities and organizations, like yours, that have demanded for the full humanity and dignity of the communities that you serve.

Letter from the President

As the Chicago region grapples with unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19, we are grateful for your ongoing work to provide essential public services, tackle inequities, and create communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

 

COVID-19 Grantmaking

During this unparalleled time, our Woods Fund team advocated to provide support to our grantee partners and the community at large. By increasing our payout from 6%-8%, we were able to: 

  • Provided a total of $409,982 in emergency funding to 38 grantees with annual budgets of $1 million or less.

  • Provided two private webinars to Woods Fund grantees to support applying to the federal Paycheck Protection Program, facilitated by Fiscal Management Associates.

  • Provided a cohort of ten Woods Fund grantees (again, prioritizing those with budgets of $1 million or less) a 10-month long social media training process, facilitated by Social Movement Technologies.

  • Contributed $20,000 to the Chicago COVID-19 Fund, facilitated by the Chicago Community Trust and the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.

  • Contributed $20,000 to the creation of a Technology Fund to support organizations with budgets of $750,000 or less to secure tech equipment/hardware, etc, assisting in their ability to work remotely and support their communities.

  • Contributed $15,000 to the Immigrant Funders Collaborative to support undocumented families during the pandemic.

  • Contributed $15,000 to the Chicago Racial Justice Fund, a fund to support organizing, created by Woods Fund, Conant Family Foundation and the Crossroads Fund. 

  • Creation of a $500,000 Movement Building Fund to support movement-building in the city of Chicago. 

How the Nonprofit Sector is Being Impacted

As we know, the nonprofit sector is being greatly impacted by the current crisis. From diminished revenue to technology issues, nonprofits have had to radically shift their work to serve their constituents. Woods Fund grantee partners — who focus on community organizing and advocacy - have had to organize and advocate virtually. Almost 50% of our grantees did not have the technology resources to work from home, let alone check in with their community members. Many have had to shift to provide direct services — often in the form of stipends — to community residents (since many of their consituents reside in Black or non-Black communities of color, are undocumented, are essential workers, or are part of the informal economy), while simultaneously advocating for community needs and equitable policies. If you would like to see how the sector overall has been impacted, Forefront has compiled data from nonprofits throughout the state of Illinois: https://myforefront.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Forefront-COVID-19-Longform-Report-4.1.2020.pdf

Mutual Aid Resources

Neighborhoods have organized to provide mutual aid to each other to ensure their survival. Community networks are banding together to provide many of the services that should be provided by the City of Chicago. In systems of mutual aid, communities take on the responsibility for caring for one another, rather than forcing individuals to fend for themselves. Mutual aid is also not charity: rather than creating a centralized organization where one person is giving to someone else, forcing them to become dependent on yet another relationship negotiating their access to material resources, mutual aid creates a symbiotic relationship, where all people offer material goods or assistance to one another. Mutual aid organizing is volunteer-run, transparent, and driven by the needs articulated by community members. See a list of Mutual Aid resources below.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & Mariambe Kaba’s Mutual Aid 101 Toolkit

Southside Weekly Community Resource Guide 

Transformative Spaces Mutual Aid

Community Development Financial Institutions Serving Chicago

Nonprofit Resources

COVID-19 Resources for Nonprofits

Time Sensitive COVID-19 Relief, Updates, and a Webinar.