COVID-19: OUR COMMUNITY’S OPPORTUNITY FOR AN EQUITABLE RECOVERY

In Grand Rapids Community Foundation’s nearly 100-year legacy of responding to the most pressing issues in Kent County, we have learned that out of every crisis comes opportunity. Opportunity to lean further into your values and tap into resilience you never knew you had. Opportunity to innovate and reimagine. Opportunity to chart new paths and build new partnerships. As West Michigan recovers from the COVID-19 crisis and works to right the wrongs of generations of systemic racism so many opportunities await our community.

When it became apparent in early March that West Michigan would need to brace for COVID-19’s emergence in our community, our team began preparing for the unknown. Amid so much uncertainty, a few things anchored us. Early on, we knew our response to COVID-19 would be multifaceted, so collaboration with our many community partners would be essential. We knew this pandemic’s impact would be long term and that we’d need to prepare for an extended recovery. And, while we didn’t know the details of our response, we knew that it would be rooted in equity. That’s why our response had to be co-created with those most impacted and directed toward communities navigating generations of disparities that would only be intensified by the pandemic.

LESSONS FROM COLLABORATION

Early in March, we began collaborating with area foundations, nonprofits, business leaders and local governments to assess the immediate, near and long-term impacts of this crisis.

“We shared information, resources and networks to ensure a comprehensive approach,” said Diana Sieger, Community Foundation president. “The group has expanded and furthered each of our organizations’ individual actions. I’m proud of the collaboration in our community and the commitment to using our resources for good.”

As a result of these conversations, one of our first steps was a grant to Heart of West Michigan United Way’s Kent County Coronavirus Response Fund. This fund had a tremendous impact in supporting nonprofits serving vulnerable populations to meet immediate needs, such as housing and food.

Our nonprofit and community partners have led in innovative ways, and we have invested our trust, resources and partnership in them. They helped us identify and respond to gaps. For example, many relief efforts aren’t available to people who are undocumented. Language and literacy are barriers to critical health and safety information. Our partners confirmed the need to increase access to mental health and emotional support services during Michigan’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order. They reinforced the critical role of anchor institutions, who have built trust capital in communities of color, amid a pandemic. Together, we saw how many historically under-resourced entrepreneurs of color lacked access to capital and other relief opportunities. Our nonprofit and community partners quickly mobilized to create critical and timely solutions. Our role was to walk alongside, offering financial assets, operational support, flexibility on existing grants and other resources.

“I am very proud of the Community Foundation’s swift response to incredibly challenging circumstances that arose in very short order,” said Michael Rosloniec, immediate past chair of the Community Foundation Board of Trustees. “The staff was able to act with such speed and focus to get funds to the most marginalized in our community because they have been deliberate in researching those organizations best positioned to help. They have built outstanding relationships with amazing partner organizations throughout Kent County.”

WORKING TOWARD AN EQUITABLE RECOVERY

We simply cannot ignore the reality that COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color. This reality drives us deeper into our commitment to pursue equity for everyone who calls West Michigan home. The heart of our recovery work is to address the deep and historic racial, social and economic inequities that exist in our community and are intensified in times of crisis.

As we work to better understand the long-term impact of this crisis, we will remain in a posture of listening, learning and collaboration with organizations and networks seeking to advance equity through their recovery efforts. We know for sure that our recovery efforts will prioritize initiatives led by or reaching communities of color, organizations with limited access to financial support through traditional philanthropy or loan opportunities, and those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

GROWING OUR CAPACITY TO STRENGTHEN OUR IMPACT

We knew early on that we’d need resources beyond what our endowed Fund for Community Good could provide to mobilize dollars quickly. So, the Kent County COVID-19 Recovery Fund was established at the Community Foundation to respond to the near and long-term impact the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the most marginalized, especially communities of color. This fund will be a vehicle for the Community Foundation and our donor partners to pool resources to collectively support the recovery of nonprofits and small businesses serving those disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our donor partners have already shown their support to kick start the fund. The Kent County COVID-19 Recovery Fund is non-endowed to ensure dollars will be used to rapidly respond to the evolving crisis and long-term recovery plans.

Our community’s recovery from COVID-19 has just begun. While we know it will take time, we’re in it for the long haul. As a community foundation, we were built for times such as this. We are fortunate to walk alongside our donor, nonprofit and community partners on this journey and look forward to the opportunities that will emerge from this crisis. The saying “Never waste a crisis” holds true as we embark on a new chapter in our community’s storied history. This is an opportunity for West Michigan to overcome the pain and loss and claim victory through an equitable recovery and a new future that creates pathways for us all to thrive.

To learn more about the Kent County COVID-19 Recovery Fund, a fund of Grand Rapids Community Foundation, and to join our long-term recovery efforts, visit grfoundation.org/COVID19.

DONOR PARTNERS STEP UP: THEN & NOW

Our donor partners have built an endowment that helps Grand Rapids Community Foundation weather—and lead through— storms. Thank you for being a partner in our work.

The strength of the Community Foundation’s continued response was and is made possible by the stability of our endowment and the flexibility of our unrestricted funds. Over decades, donors who couldn’t have imagined our current state—but knew the Community Foundation would be an important resource and fuel for West Michigan’s recovery and prosperity—grew this power. Their foresight and generosity has contributed to meeting previous needs and played a part in our immediate and extended responses to COVID-19.

As demonstrated through recent grantmaking, the Community Foundation adjusts to meet people’s needs as the environment changes. Our financial policies are designed to provide consistent nonprofit support and fund distribution despite market volatility. This long-term vision is one reason our partners trust our work.

It is more important than ever that the Community Foundation can adapt and respond to our community’s most pressing needs. Our donor partners have already shown their support by kick starting the Kent County COVID-19 Recovery Fund, supporting nonprofits they care about and backing other community initiatives, like La Lucha Fund.

We are honored by your trust and encouraged to see our community rise to meet this challenge. When we join together and share our resources, we can make a collective impact.

WHY WE PARTNER WITH GRAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

We wanted to do something to contribute toward the coronavirus recovery. Donating to the Kent County COVID-19 Recovery Fund seemed to be a very good thing to do, because we know how legitimate Grand Rapids Community Foundation is.

–Tom and Mickie Fox, donor partners

Grand Rapids Community Foundation always focuses on proper stewardship of their financial assets to have the flexibility to act appropriately when a crisis arises. Although few could have imagined such a horrible healthcare crisis and corresponding economic pain, I am glad the Community Foundation leadership was prepared and moved with incredible speed to get assets where they were most needed.

– Michael Rosloniec, Community Foundation Board of Trustees immediate past chair, Investment Review Committee member and donor partner

For nearly 100 years, donors have been setting aside unrestricted funds for use by future leaders to respond to unforeseeable needs. A few short months ago, no one could see the challenges COVID-19 would bring, but the flexibility of GRCF’s unrestricted endowment has allowed the foundation to pivot and respond. That kind of permanent protection for our community is hard to find elsewhere.

– Tom Kyros, Community Foundation Board of Trustees, Professional Advisory Committee member and donor partner

We know that people who are undocumented don’t have access, because of their status, to a lot of supports put in place during this COVID-19 crisis. As a result, families who worked hard to feed their kids and pay their rent and still struggled even before the pandemic are being left behind. I believe it’s our responsibility to show up for each other and am honored to give to La Lucha Fund, to help support members of our community who are excluded by systems of power that were never built for their success.

–Erika VanDyke, Community Foundation program officer and donor partner

WORKING TOGETHER TO REVIVE OUR LOCAL ECONOMY

If we work together, our local economy will bounce back from the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grand Rapids Community Foundation is taking a multipronged approach to leveraging its resources to support small business recovery. We will prioritize access to capital and opportunities for entrepreneurs of color and small business owners, who are historically under-resourced.

The first prong is our traditional grantmaking strategy of providing new resources to partners. The Board of Trustees recently approved a $150,000 grant partnership with West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation. This grant will provide business supports to Latinx owned businesses in response to the economic crisis. Also, a grant partnership with Rende Progress Capital for $250,000 responds to generations of disinvestment in communities of color. Through small business loans and support, Rende Progress Capital plays a critical role in bringing investments and resources to communities that have historically been underserved.

The second prong is to keep listening to current nonprofit partners as they create innovative solutions to the pandemic. For example, Start Garden adjusted its multiyear program-specific grant partnership into immediate support for 100 Comeback. This entrepreneur relief fund specifically supports opportunities for people of color and women. The Community Foundation’s flexible grantmaking practices provide space for nonprofit partners’ inventive ideas to flourish and create responsive recovery approaches.

Finally, the Community Foundation is collaborating with local foundations, chambers of commerce and other business leaders to nurture small business recovery. These conversations assess COVID-19 impacts and work to determine how philanthropy, business and government each play a role in building an equitable recovery for Kent County.

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