News
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$237K Goes To Meet Persistent Child And Youth Needs Under COVID-19 Conditions
PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED is an aligned philanthropic response to COVID-19 in Pierce County
Released 8/20/20 5:00pm
Media Inquiries Contact:
Megan Sukys, 253.345.4173
VP Communications, GTCF
The PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED Fund announced its latest round of funding with $237,162 going to 12 local organizations addressing persistent child and youth needs related to COVID-19 conditions. This brings the total funding through PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED to $4.5 million.
Further requests for funding are now being accepted. Details are available at GTCF’s website.
The following organizations received fund support:
- All Saints Catholic Church
- Children’s Therapy Center
- Cultivating Our Sisterhood International Association, Inc.
- Disciples Terrace (a United Church Homes property)
- Eatonville Area Council/Eatonville Family Agency
- First 5 FUNdamentals
- Mountain View Community Center
- Mary Bridge Children’s Foundation
- New Phoebe House Association
- Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
- Raising Girls
- The Moore Wright Group
Holly Bamford Hunt, Director of the Bamford Foundation and a member of the PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED Funding Committee, “I continue to hear from our local youth and family-serving organizations about the cumulative impacts of the pandemic upon the community members they serve; access to food, housing, child care, financial, educational, technology and health resources continue to be a challenge, and with that concerns about growing mental health impacts upon children and families. At the same time, I continue to be inspired by the way in which our community organizations and family support systems are creatively and collaboratively working to listen to and lift up children and families at this time.
“While this time has been hard for all of us, it’s going to take an effort in our collective actions to center the experiences of Pierce County’s children and their families who have been faced with barriers to resources and isolation at a level never seen before, while coping with systems that have not recognized fully their assets and contributions. And remembering that really for all ages we need to attend to our social and emotional health and development during this time – and that includes play and finding joy in the moment.”
Kate Ginn, LICSW, Project Manager, Help Me Grow Pierce County, First 5 FUNdamentals, “Families with young children are continuing to struggle with meeting basic needs as the effects of COVID-19 persist. We have been working with community partners to share information with one another, and look at 2-1-1’s caller data to identify gaps in resources for the community. As parents may continue to be spending more time at home and taking on more responsibility over their children’s education, it is critical that our community supports parents with the resources they may need. Help Me Grow Pierce County is now serving as a connection point for families with young children to be informed of the support available in their community.”
Sarah Yamamoto, Grants Officer, MultiCare Foundations, “The persistent presence of COVID-19 has resulted in a drastic reduction in behavioral health service delivery to our most vulnerable kids. Virtual visits can be difficult to navigate and engagement can be variable. Pediatric mobile crisis services were seriously curtailed for several weeks and the legacy of that was increased emergency department visits. Psychiatric hospitalizations have increased, secondary to reduced access and engagement in services. The Mary Bridge Emergency Department Behavioral Health Navigator (BHN) is dedicated to creating an accessible and comprehensive community plan for complex behavioral health patients.
“Parents and involved adults need to take care of themselves. Kids will only do as well as we do, so be sure to model healthy behaviors such as exercising, eating well, and getting plenty of sleep. Limit time on social media and watching the news and – most importantly – do something enjoyable each day with the kids that you care about.”
Barry Gourley, CEO, Children’s Therapy Center, “For a child with special needs, missing a therapy session means setbacks and delays that significantly affect their progress and well-being. Many of the children we serve are school age and are already at a disadvantage of not being able to access services in an educational setting due to COVID. The grant from the Pierce County Connected Fund means that therapy – and progress – can continue. Children’s Therapy Center will use this grant to fund laptops that are suitable for video conferencing (telehealth) sessions and cover the cost of secure Zoom licenses for our providers. We are so grateful for this generous and timely grant.”
PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED funding for vulnerable populations under COVID-19 conditions is made possible through generous contributions from 317 individual donors and 54 philanthropic funding partners. So far, contributions to PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED total a combined $7.4 million.
Foundation for Tacoma Students is one of the PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED funders. Their support will help to address the persistent needs of children and youth surfacing in our community under the conditions of COVID-19. Tafona Ervin, Ed.D, Executive Director, Foundation for Tacoma Students, “The Foundation for Tacoma Students believes in the potential of every child. Yet, the environmental factors that compound youth and families in this community require bold and courageous leadership, as well as right-sized investments to adaptively address the root causes impeding the potential for success. Giving to the Pierce County Connected Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic was a necessary and adaptive investment for the Foundation for Tacoma Students. Our gift demonstrates our solidarity for bold, courageous, adaptive, and right-sized investments in Pierce County.”
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PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED funding partners are committed to delivering rapid funding to organizations in a way that supports their continued services to vulnerable populations with the fewest barriers possible.
The members of the funding committee include: Co-Chair Dona Ponepinto – United Way of Pierce County, Co-Chair Brad Cheney – Ben B. Cheney Foundation, Alisha Fehrenbacher – Elevate Health & One Pierce, Cassandra Mitchell – KeyBank, Georgia Lomax – Pierce County Library System, Holly Bamford Hunt – Bamford Family Foundation, Janece Levien – Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, Jeff Woodworth – Woodworth Family Foundation, Lois Bernstein – MultiCare, Nick Russell – The Russell Family Foundation, Richard Woo – retired CEO The Russell Family Foundation, Seth Kirby – Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, Todd Silver – Todd & Teresa Silver Funds, Tyler Zemanek – Windows of Hope Foundation
Organizations and entities with services based in Pierce County can now submit requests. Information about the funding opportunity can be found at the PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED Emergency Response Fund web page.
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The PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED fund was launched as the public health response to COVID-19 in Pierce County escalated on Friday, March 13, 2020. The purpose of the fund is to support organizations in Pierce County providing services that meet urgent health and basic human needs due to COVID-19.
United Way of Pierce County and Greater Tacoma Community Foundation partnered to create the aligned philanthropic response. GTCF seeded the fund with $1,750,000.
Individual donors can make a difference for their communities during COVID-19 by contributing in any way they can. The aligned philanthropies encourage individual donors to give directly to the causes and organizations that matter to them.
To support funding for organizations directly serving vulnerable populations during COVID-19, donors are encouraged to donate to PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED fund.
DONATE NOW TO PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED.
https://ssl.charityweb.net/uwpc/COVID19.htm
PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED FUNDING PARTNERS
Amazon
Anonymous
Ballmer Group
Bates Family Foundation
Beardsley Family Foundation
BECU
Ben B. Cheney Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Campbell Family Foundation
Campbell/Loan Family Charitable Fund
CHI Franciscan
Columbia Bank
Corry & Donna J. McFarland Foundation
Elevate Health & OnePierce Community Resiliency Fund
Elliott Family Foundation
Foundation for Tacoma Students
JayRay
JP Morgan Chase
Laird Norton Family Foundation
Laird Norton Wealth Management
Laird Norton Trust Company
LT Murray Family Foundation
KeyBank
Korum for Kids Foundation
Laird Norton Foundation
Medina Foundation
MJ Murdock Trust
MultiCare
Names Family Foundation
Oscar T and Olivann Hokold Foundation
Pacific Source
Perigee Fund
Premera Blue Cross
Propel Insurance
Puget Sound Energy Foundation
Rotary 8
Roy & Patricia Disney Foundation
Ruth Foundation
Satterberg Foundation
South Sound 100 Women
Stewardship Foundation
Stolte Family Foundation
The Baker Foundation
The Bamford Foundation
The Russell Family Foundation
Todd & Teresa Silver
Tom and Meg Names Family Foundation
Umpqua Bank
United Way of Pierce County
Wells Fargo
Whisper Foundation
Woodworth Family Foundation
All contributors to PIERCE COUNTY CONNECTED are recognized at United Way of Pierce County’s website. Click here to see the full list.