Two community foundations and United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley have announced a funding partnership to help local nonprofits deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, with total grants of more than $700,000.
The Eau Claire Community Foundation (ECCF), the Community Foundation of Chippewa County (CFCC) and United Way will each offer its own grant opportunities but will collaborate in making funding decisions. The cooperative effort is aimed at ensuring that funds they distribute will best serve Chippewa Valley needs as a whole during the pandemic, according to a press release.
United Way will grant $500,000 to nonprofit organizations in both Eau Claire and Chippewa Counties to support projects addressing early childhood development and the physical and mental well-being of these children’s family systems. United Way identified this area as critical to the children’s current and future well-being during its recent assessment of pandemic-related community needs.
Grant proposals must be submitted by July 28. More information is available on the United Way website.
ECCF & CFCC grants also available
The ECCF’s ”Response and Recovery Community Fund” has almost $200,000 in available funding to support projects by Eau Claire County nonprofit organizations that meet residents’ basic needs as they cope with the pandemic’s economic damage. Those needs include food, shelter, and physical and mental health.
The foundation will also provide operational support to help nonprofits adapt to the pandemic’s ongoing effects. Its grant application deadline is also July 28. More information can be found on ECCF’s website.
The CFCC’s “Response Recovery Rebuild Fund” is accepting applications continuously as long as funding is available and grants will be awarded on a rolling basis. This will allow for the most flexible response to evolving needs, according to the press release. More information is available on the CFCC website.
Eligible Chippewa Valley nonprofits can apply for grants from one or more of these separate but complementary grant programs. Those applications must be for different projects, however.
Since April, these three organizations have provided more than $300,000 to help nonprofits assist community members disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and its economic consequences. This additional funding could bring that total to more than $1 million.