COVID-19 sharpened our vision in 2020.
What began as a public health crisis has quickly expanded into an economic, educational and social crisis. Record numbers of our region’s residents are seeking help from nonprofit organizations, even as nonprofits’ revenues are declining.
Like many organizations, the Hartford Foundation quickly pivoted this spring and launched the COVID-19 Response Fund. Thanks to hundreds of generous individual and corporate donors, we have awarded more than $9 million to nonprofits working to meet basic human needs throughout the region. Additional grant dollars remain available to nonprofits to help cover the cost of re-opening.
Looking at the effects of COVID-19 through the lens of race, it has become undeniably clear that the health and financial ravages of the pandemic disproportionately impact Black and Latinx residents. At the same time, people across America have taken to the streets to demand racial justice in the wake of the senseless murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. We are bearing witness to a second pandemic: systemic racism.
Through our 2020 grantmaking, we have sought to ease some of the symptoms of these “dual pandemics.” A few significant examples:
• The Foundation and the Travelers Championship announced a three-year, $400,000 police training initiative, helping officers in Greater Hartford build bridges with communities of color.
• We lifted up minority- and women-owned businesses through our support of the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program.
• We partnered with the City of Hartford and Dalio Philanthropies to establish free, high speed internet for all city residents.
These “dual pandemics” have reinforced the urgent call to dismantle racist structures built over decades and rectify the disinvestment in many of our communities. It is not only the right thing to do; it will also help us repair the social damage caused by COVID-19, get our economy back on track and safeguard us against future crises. If 2020 has helped to sharpen our vision, 2021 holds the promise of a more just society.
We cannot do this work alone. Please join our journey.
Jay Williams
President
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
