San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Foundation announced today that it has launched the SFF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. The fund will provide support to nonprofit organizations based in five Bay Area counties working to meet the increased need for their services as our communities grapple with loss of income and other effects of the pandemic. The fund will support organizations that help people make up for lost wages and work, provide food, protect renters, and address racial bias resulting from the crisis.

“We know that the hardest hit in any emergency are people who are already living at the margins, and this moment is no exception.” said Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation.

“This fund is aimed at meeting the urgent needs of people who have been making it work in challenging times, but who are now being stretched even further. Our message to them is that we see you, we are listening, and we are going to get through this together.”

The number of people affected by the COVID-19 virus in the Bay Area continues to grow, revealing a tremendous and escalating need in the Bay Area—especially to support the most vulnerable people in the community, such as seniors, people with compromised immune systems, low-wage workers, and undocumented people.

Through the SFF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, the San Francisco Foundation will make grants of $3,000 – $25,000 to nonprofit organizations in San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, Contra Costa, and Marin Counties addressing the following four issue areas: worker support, preventing homelessness and providing renter protection and housing security, ensuring food security, and addressing racial bias.

The San Francisco Foundation’s fund is designed to complement region-wide efforts to address the COVID-19 outbreak. For donors interested in supporting social service efforts across the ten counties, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation is hosting the COVID-19 Coronavirus Regional Response Fund.

“This moment highlights how interconnected we all are and the strength we have when we come together as a community to care for each other,” said Judith Bell, Chief Impact Officer at the San Francisco Foundation. “The San Francisco Foundation is committed to doing whatever we can to keep our community whole and safe.”

If you are interested in contributing funds to SFF’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, please click here.

For more information and to apply for funds through the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, click here.

The San Francisco Foundation is a grantmaking public charity dedicated to improving life in the five counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it is one of the nation’s largest community foundations. In addition to its work to prevent homelessness and provide affordable homes for all Bay Area residents who need them, the San Francisco Foundation has worked in a variety of other areas – including supporting the Bay Area Equity Atlas – a robust new data and policy tool to help create a more equitable Bay Area; providing emergency protections to advance racial justice or protect immigrant communities through its Rapid Response Fund; and has supported a targeted set of other initiatives focused on racial equity and economic inclusion. Learn more: www.sff.org