10 Year Spotlight: Meeting the Moment – COVID Response
A Decade of Making a Difference
Crisis calls for rapid adaptation and, in 2020, the Foundation board, partners, and community rose to meet the challenge. Early in the pandemic, we opened our Center for Health Equity to community partner 211, who used the space to process $1.5 million in federal financial assistance for people in need. In 2021, after CARES dollars were distributed, the Foundation partnered with Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County to use our Center as a community vaccination and testing site.
With a focus on nonprofit response and resiliency as well as disease mitigation for vulnerable populations, the Foundation also deployed additional grant funding to respond to community needs and worked with funded partners to repurpose existing Foundation grant dollars.
“Being able to work with our funded partners to adapt to the changing needs made a big difference in our community’s health,” Foundation Senior Director of Grants Management and Administration Julie Rocco said. “I’m grateful we could be of service to our community in that critical time.”
To support our community during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation also:
- Helped create and support public health campaigns around social distancing, mask use, mental health, and vaccination, and deployed “vaccine navigators” who went door-to-door in key neighborhoods to boost vaccination rates
- Hosted trainings and provided grant writing assistance to help local nonprofits access CARES dollars and other resources.
- Created the Racial Equity Loan Fund to help nonprofits and small businesses stabilize their financing.
- Helped ensure local COVID data was disaggregated by race and ethnicity to track any emerging disparities and ensure equity in all of our local communities.
- Partnered with the Community Law Program to help prevent evictions.
- Provided leadership around responding to community needs in moments of crisis.
“Being able to respond to emerging community needs is critical to any organization dedicated to creating a community in all people can lead healthy lives,” Foundation President and CEO Dr. Kanika Tomalin said. “While we remain steadfastly focused on our mission, we’re grateful we could meet the moment and support our community in that critical time.”