In response to the financial emergencies facing artists due to the ongoing pandemic, CERF+ launched additional cycles of its COVID-19 Relief Grant Program. These grants provided immediate relief to artists facing dire circumstances, including food, housing, and medical insecurities.
In 2021, CERF+s COVID-19 Relief Grant Program provided $303,000 in financial assistance to 303 artists in 39 states and Puerto Rico.
Since the onset of the pandemic, CERF+ has provided 1,187 COVID-19 Relief Grants totaling over $1.1 million to artists across the United States and the territories. Recognizing that artists who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, as well as folk and traditional artists have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, CERF+ prioritized their needs. As a result, 72% of COVID-19 grantees were Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and 20% were folk/traditional artists.
None of this would have been possible without the generosity of the GlobalGiving community. Thank you for supporting our work and the artists we serve.
We always knew that the pandemic would be both a sprint and a marathon and that our ongoing response would need to be multifaceted, accessible, and long-term. Over the last 19 months, CERF+'s response has involved multiple strategies and a mix of direct aid to individual artists and indirect services to the creative sector at large.
Last month, CERF+ awarded a fourth cycle of COVID-19 Relief Grants totaling $300,000 to 300 artists from 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Over four cycles, we received more than 7,000 applications and provided 1,425 grants totaling more than $1.75 million to artists from 49 States, 3 U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia.
Understanding that COVID-19 was disproportionately impacting marginalized communities, CERF+ prioritized artists that are typically underserved by grantmakers. As a result, 72% of CERF+'s COVID-19 grantees were Black, Indigenous, People of Color, 20% were folk/traditional artists, and 61% of recipients were new to CERF+.
Funding was made possible with generous support from our individual donor community, along with funding from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, GlobalGiving, The Haven Foundation, The Margaret A. Cargill Fund at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, and Windgate Foundation.
Thank you for your support!
Project Reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you will get an e-mail when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports via e-mail without donating.
We'll only email you new reports and updates about this project.