$10,000 was recently granted to VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region
The VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region (VNAHSR) has received a $10,000 grant from the VT Covid-19 Response Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation. The grant will be used to help the agency adapt to the changing realities of providing home health care and hospice during an epidemic.
“We are honored that the Vermont Community Foundation recognizes the unique value and position that home health and hospice care provides to our community,” said Ron Cioffi, RN, CEO of the VNAHSR. “Our staff is on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis providing essential services to our patients every day Gifts like this from the Covid-19 Response Fund will help us address the overwhelming issues presented by caring for communities in crisis.”
Support from this grant and other donations from the community will be used to help the agency meet the ongoing needs of personal protective equipment and critical supplies to treat Covid positive patients safely and support virtual visits.
The Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) has established the VT Covid-19 Response Fund to support nonprofits that are particularly equipped to address community impacts of the spread of Covid-19 in Vermont.
Working with state, federal, municipal, public health, and nonprofit leadership, the Community Foundation provides flexible resources to nonprofits working to address the most immediate public health and economic impacts of the disease, focusing on vulnerable populations and the service providers that support them.
There will be emergency response, but there will also be longer term recovery. Philanthropy has a role to play in both.
Grants will be made in multiple phases on a rolling basis, depending on the fundraising dollars that are received.
In Phase One, VCF extended capacity and support the infrastructure of nonprofits positioned to meet the basic human needs of our most vulnerable populations, specifically elders, and families compelled to stay at home by illness, school, childcare and work closures. This ranged from visiting nurses to Meals on Wheels, and from food pantries to program supports for socially distanced and isolated individuals. The Foundation began distribution of Phase One grants on March 25.
Phase Two is dependent on state and federal support that becomes available and will focus primarily on economic and social strategies for those adversely affected.
During the week of April 13, VCF distributed the second round of grants from both the VT Covid-19 Response Fund and the Community Foundation’s own discretionary grants budget, totaling $529,000. Through these channels, approximately $1.16 million was distributed since the Fund was established on March 13. As of April 15, donations to the VT Covid-19 Response Fund have reached $3.2 million.
Community Foundation grants have ranged from $500 to $25,000 and have been made directly to organizations serving vulnerable populations as well as to partner organizations that are making sub-grants to their network members.
The second round of grants focused on shelters serving families and domestic violence survivors, food pantries and food shelves, as well as home health and visiting nurse agencies. A small number of grants have also been made to organizations working on language translation, coordination of community organizing efforts, and training for end of life counseling.
For more information, visit VTCovid19repsonse.org.
