Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund

All donations to the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund through the end of January will go directly for the relief of hospitality and service industry workers. As part of the Pay It Forward Mid-South campaign, the funds will go to those workers who lose wages or employment as a result of restrictions imposed by the Health Department.

The Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund, administered by the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, made its first set of grant awards, totaling $165,000, to two organizations:

Welcome to Memphis ($82,500) for individual relief funds to hospitality service employees. Eligible recipients are hourly workers of hotels, restaurants, bars, tourist attractions, convention services, or tour operators.
MIFA ($82,500) to provide rent, mortgage, and utility assistance for Memphis and Shelby County residents who have experienced a temporary crisis due to COVID-19, such as a job loss or reduction in pay.

The grants are expected to help more than 300 local workers. The Fund’s Advisory Committee anticipates making another set of grant awards at the end of the month, with a total determined by the amount of Pay It Forward Mid-South dollars raised. For more information, go here.

Justin Fox Burks

Community Foundation of Greater Memphis CEO Bob Fockler and Executive Vice President Sutton Mora Hayes

A new fund launched Wednesday to help respond to the coronavirus outbreak in Shelby County.

The Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response fund was seeded with a $250,000 donation from the Nike Foundation. The fund is a joint effort by the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, city of Memphis, Shelby County government, United Way of the Mid-South, and Momentum Nonprofit Partners/Mid-South Philanthropy Network.

The response fund will provide flexible funding to nonprofit organizations working with impacted community members dealing with the economic consequences of the outbreak in West Tennessee, Eastern Arkansas, and Northern Mississippi.

“This is an unprecedented event in our community, and we don’t know how the next weeks and months will play out,” said Robert Fockler, president of the Community Foundation. “This fund allows people and institutions to support a safety net for vulnerable populations and those most affected by the threat to their health, wellbeing, and economic sustainability.”
[pullquote-1] The first phase of these rapid-response grants will address the following:

• The economic impact of reduced and lost work because of the novel coronavirus outbreak

• Immediate needs of economically vulnerable populations caused by closures and cancellations related to COVID-19

• Increased demand for medical information and support

• Fear and confusion about the outbreak among the region’s most vulnerable residents.

Representatives from the partnership agencies will award grants based on the amount of funds received. They anticipate the first round of grants being allocated in the next few weeks.

To donate online and learn more about the grant, visit cfgm.org/COVID.