By Caitlin Kelly | Grants Manager
Before COVID-19 hit our region, nearly 40 percent of Southeastern Michigan households were already struggling to meet their basic needs like food, housing, and health care. As businesses closed their doors and laid off or furloughed workers, unemployment claims in Michigan reached an all-time high of 1.3 million in April 2020. Additionally, schools and most childcare facilities closed, placing added stress on families to provide care and schooling at home. And for the most vulnerable members of our community — like senior citizens, people without health insurance, and those experiencing homelessness — the pandemic meant that demand for help grew while resources dwindled.
COVID-19 COMMUNITY RESPONSE FUND IMPACT
Since March 2020, United Way for Southeastern Michigan has worked with hundreds of partners to give individuals and families the support they need to weather this crisis, as well as to ensure they can help their children thrive and learn. We invested more than $36 million back into our community through our COVID-19 Community Response Fund. With your support, we’ve helped shelters and childcare facilities stay open, provided children with nutritious meals, and supported families so they could stay in their homes and keep their lights on.
2-1-1
United Way’s 2-1-1 helpline served as a crucial resource to our community during the COVID-19 crisis. When the COVID-19 outbreak began in Michigan, calls to 2-1-1 jumped from an average of 500 per day to 750. In March of 2020, our 2-1-1 team handled more than 19,000 calls for help. In response to the increased call volume, staff from United Way and nearly a dozen of our corporate partners volunteered to field 2-1-1 calls. These trained volunteers worked up to six hours per week taking calls from people in crisis.
PERSONAL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT
As the demand for basic needs and other health and human services grew, the staff at front-line agencies were increasingly at risk for exposure to COVID-19. United Way’s COVID-19 Community Response Fund helped ensure that those who care for our most vulnerable community members had the protection they needed. With the support of donors like you, we were able to provide masks, gloves, sanitizer and other supports to hundreds of childcare facilities, nonprofit organizations, and schools. Over 1.5 million pieces of PPE were distributed, including:
STAY INFORMED ABOUT HOW YOUR SUPPORT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!
We’ll send you periodic updates on how supporters like you are helping us build communities of stable households and thriving children. Plus, hear about ways to get involved through advocacy work and volunteer events.
Links:
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 can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
