Humboldt Area Foundation and our affiliate, Wild Rivers Community Foundation, launched the COVID-19 Regional Response Fund to address the immediate and emerging needs of our region's most vulnerable residents—from mitigation to eventual recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Grants Made from the COVID-19 Regional Response Fund

[updated 10/22/2020]

  • 211 Humboldt, $2,000, to the Mother Women Rising Support Group for extra help for clients as a result of the coronavirus.
  • Access Humboldt, $25,000, to support the Community Voices Coalition, which will work with the North Coast Journal to share open source news stories about vulnerable communities.
  • Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives, $11,000, for additional general operating support for homeless services resulting from the coronavirus and to act as fiscal sponsor for Humboldt Mutual Aid for food & hygiene supplies delivery.
  • Arcata Fire District, $7,500, to recruit 5 new volunteer firefighters annually and have no more than 3 interns on staff annually.
  • Arcata House Partnership, $29,000, for a Technical Assistance Grant to work with Heather Equinoss; for facility improvements to maintain health, safety and physical distancing during the coronavirus; and for a matching challenge to support a Housing Services Manager position that is needed to accommodate the significant increase in demand for shelter.
  • Arcata Presbyterian Church, $3,000, for supplementing weekly meal and supplies (hygiene, socks, etc.) for 50+ unhoused residents, as well as to purchase face coverings for unhoused and low-income individuals in the greater Arcata area.
  • Area 1 Agency on Aging, $22,646.44, for purchasing 30 tablets & internet access for holding online fall prevention exercise classes for adults aged 60+ in Humboldt County.
  • Assembly of God Church, $1,500, to support the construction and stocking of two little free food pantries in Orleans to serve the homeless population upriver.
  • Black Humboldt, $13,000, to support artists, organizers and technology upgrades for educational virtual Juneteenth event; to support 10 local Black entrepreneurs to help keep their businesses open during the pandemic; and for general operational support.
  • Boys & Girls Club of the Redwoods, $15,000, to support an 8-week, all-day program serving 48 children who are either Club members or have parents that are essential workers. Funding will support supplies, staff time, food, and scholarships to cover the $50 fee.
  • Centro Del Pueblo, $75,000, for staffing costs to complete COVID relief payment processing; for helping mitigate the increased needs of undocumented communities during the COVID-19 pandemic; and to purchase office & tech supplies to keep up with increased capacity due to COVID-related community outreach, distribution of resources (funds, food, supplies) to families, and bilingual PSAs.
  • Changing Tides Family Services, $6,270, for purchasing Chromebooks for 19 children/youth (ages 5-17) to support virtual mental health services via Zoom.
  • City of Arcata, $2,000, for catering costs for an October 4 program at which local residents host HSU and CR students, picking up a meal and community resources and giving them a message of welcome and belonging in our community.
  • Cooperation Humboldt, $70,000, for support of increased needs due to the coronavirus, including the Humboldt COVID-19 Response Coalition, the Humboldt Parent Hive Childcare Cooperative, art therapy for people in recovery with substance use disorders, and general operating support to sustain work of the Coalition, Worker Owned Humboldt, Community Health Workers, and Mini Gardens.
  • Crescent City Fire & Rescue, $13,800, to purchase 50 EMS jackets with bloodborne pathogen protection layers. Serving Del Norte and Curry counties.
  • Cumbre Humboldt, $20,000, to support matching 35 Latinx Pacific Union School students with HSU tutors over the summer.
  • Curry Coastline Neighbors, $7,000, to get a delivery system of food and medicine for folks sheltering in place who need it.
  • Curry County, $28,000, to create a mobile command station for emergency response in Curry County.
  • Curry Health Network, $8,000, to purchase equipment for telemedicine services and for allowing isolated patients to visit with their families.
  • Del Norte County, $10,000, to support continued showers for our unhoused friends and neighbors.
  • English Express, $30,000, to support continued online classes and resource referrals for the entire service area through June 2021 for ESL (English as a Second Language) and immigrant populations from over 30 countries.
  • Eureka Rescue Mission, $10,000, to help meet an increased demand for services resulting from the coronavirus.
  • Feed the E.R., $1,044, to feed local first responders and emergency room workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Fieldbrook Community Church, $12,000, for the God-snacked program, which will feed approximately 175 meals per week to unhoused people in McKinleyville for the next 6 months.
  • Fieldbrook Elementary School, $2,000, to revamp their sensory/therapy room for their 1:1 sessions with students to be safer and more accessible.
  • First 5 Humboldt, $55,000, for providing stipends to providers through the Child Care Incentive and Recognition Program.
  • Food for People, $21,000, to respond to increased COVID-19 related demands on the organization and for human-centered design work with Equinoss Consulting.
  • Food Not Bombs, $1,000, to provide weekly free meals for 6 months to houseless people in Humboldt County.
  • Fortuna Adventist Community Services, $15,000, to support to continue the HART program, support for other social service programs (2 shelter rooms for DV/IPV survivors or medically fragile folks), and food pantry and clothing assistance.
  • Fuente Nueva Charter School, $3,500, to purchase outdoor classroom equipment (seating, cushions, wood chips, heavy equipment rental, etc).
  • Garfield School District, $5,000, to support educational videos for youth (pre-K - 6th grade), in partnership with the Humboldt County Office of Education, discussing challenges of online learning, hand washing, mask wearing and mindfulness.
  • Gold Beach Senior Center, $20,000, to continue to prepare and deliver food to home-bound seniors in Gold Beach and Port Orford, Oregon due to the coronavirus.
  • Golden Age Center, Inc., $27,150, to provide home delivered meals and transportation to Weaverville, Douglas City, and surrounding areas of Trinity County, as well as to repair the Center's dishwasher.
  • Gordon Clay "R U OK", $2,000, for printing brochures with suicide prevention resources for Del Norte County.
  • HC Black Music and Arts Association, $2,000, to provide operating support for outreach to local youth to assess needs, monthly vigils, 3 Day Camp (Youth and Teens) and Restorative Circles.
  • Healthy Moms Program, $950, to purchase cell phones or data cards for remote counseling needs through DHHS.
  • Healy Senior Center, $30,000, to maintain and expand Southern Humboldt program operations and staffing for senior services during the pandemic; and to support the Meals on Wheels program throughout Southern Humboldt.
  • Hmong Cultural Center, $10,000, for supplying culturally appropriate meals and groceries to Hmong families and elders.
  • Hoopa Valley Tribe, $29,500, for general operating support; to buy materials and provide stipends for making masks for safely holding elections; to purchase 5 iPads and provide internet connectivity for Motherhood is Sacred/Fatherhood is Sacred parenting classes to mitigate child abuse rates and parental stress during the pandemic; and to support the Office of Emergency Services' fire response.
  • Humboldt Bay Firefighters Local 652, $15,300, to purchase reusable medical Personal Protection Equipment jackets for first responders needed to protect them and the public during the coronavirus.
  • Humboldt County Fire Chiefs Association, $8,600, to purchase PPE for emergency workers in 39 fire departments in Humboldt and southern Trinity counties.
  • Humboldt County Office of Education, $10,000, to support internet connectivity for 50 students in Humboldt County who are participating in distance learning during the coronavirus.
  • Humboldt Family Service Center, $44,000, for virtual counseling for struggling families sheltering in place, and to support the creation of three additional support groups for domestic violence survivors.
  • Humboldt Resilience, Inc., $10,000, for “The Seed Project, an early intervention and prevention program for at-risk youth via agriculture practices.
  • Humboldt State University Foundation, $15,000, to support the Dreamers' Fund at HSU for DACA students as a matching challenge grant and to support the African American Center for Academic Excellence (AACAE).
  • Hupa Family Resource Center, $12,500, for thermometers, hygiene items, blankets, hand sanitizers, tents, seeds for families to start gardens, emergency food, hotel vouchers; also to purchase shelter-in-place relief kits for the most at-risk Hoopa Valley children (approx 250 families) and elders (approx 75).
  • Ink People Center for the Arts, $60,200, to the creation of community arts and culture projects for vulnerable artists and culture bearers & operating support for this effort; to support four Black, Latinx and Native artists in Eureka to commission murals during Eureka Street Art Festival; and to support purchasing supplies for a weekly online art class and peer support group (Art for the Young at Heart) for 20 low-income seniors at Silvercrest Senior Residence in Eureka.
  • The Karuk Tribe, $75,000, for launching a new farm to increase resilience in response to heightened food insecurities brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, and to provide food and sanitation boxes to 40 households (approximately 200 people) who are non-Native, but who are living upriver on tribal lands; and for general operating support.
  • K’ima:w Medical Center, $121,000, for ambulance repair and to purchase washing machines for health workers and for groups within the Hupa community who do not have access to laundromats; support 6 months of emergency shelter, including food, clothing, & transportation for 6-18 survivors of domestic violence & their families; to support mass COVID-19 testing in Hoopa, benefiting 2,140 Native people as part of an effort to provide matching funds that will leverage national philanthropy partners; and Rockefeller Foundation support for COVID-19 testing.

  • Klamath Trinity Resource Conservation District, $15,000, for supplying six community food pantries in Hoopa and for staff members to build and maintain a garden.
  • Kunle Community, $5,000, for their Warm Line, which provides mental health support.
  • Locally Delicious, $10,000, for their Farmers Fund, which helps farmers purchase more seed to grow more food in response to COVID-19.
  • Mountain Chapel Assembly of God Church, $15,000, to replace the broken industrial sanitizing dishwasher and kitchen flooring, supporting the delivery of 115 meals each week to seniors who are sheltering in place due to COVID-19.
  • NAACP, Eureka Branch, $22,000, for increased operational needs during the coronavirus pandemic; to support all Humboldt County Black Students Unions for their continued student- and family-led work with high school and middle school systems to address mental and physical health dangers to students of color; to support Building Black Community by providing stipends for three facilitators and offering child care for monthly meetings; and to support capacity building & technical assistance for facilitating listening sessions for public school administrations from families of color to make schools safer and more productive for BIPOC students across Humboldt and Del Norte counties.
  • NorCal Lao Foundation, $8,000, to assemble emergency kits with medical and hygiene supplies, Asian foods for So. East Asian low income elders and families; translating emergency info and federal updates into Lao & Hmong brochures.
  • North Coast Growers' Association, $18,315, to source and prepare local, fresh food boxes for weekly purchase and pick-up from June to October at the Arcata Farmers' Market.
  • North Coast Health Improvement and Information Network, $10,000, to support the Boys to Men Program - a series of mentorship meetings aimed for 45 youth ages 12-17 to support them during the challenges of the pandemic; the program includes McKinleyville Middle School, McKinleyville High School, and the Court and Community Schools.
  • North Coast Veterans Resource Center, $17,275, for heightened operating costs in housing and providing resources to veterans experiencing housing insecurity during shelter-in-place orders.
  • Oasis Domestic Violence Shelter, $6,000, for helping to house victims of domestic abuse in safe spaces during a heightened number domestic abuse cases related to the shelter in place order.
  • Redwood Coast Regional Center, $13,000, for supporting Alliance of Service Providers to buy 237 tablets for clients with developmental disabilities in Del Norte and Humboldt counties for connecting socially, and with medical, mental health and social work providers.
  • Resighini Rancheria, $15,000, for providing food to 85 households (45 in Del Norte and 40 in Humboldt counties).
  • River Life Foundation, $5,000, to continue maintenance of the walking trail in Fortuna along the Eel River. Also, to help stay connected to unhoused people in the area by helping connect them with local food, showers, transportation, and drug rehabilitation programs if applicable.
  • Roderick Hayfork Senior Center, $6,000, for purchasing food transport carriers, paper products, storage containers, and an industrial freezer for keeping and transporting food to those sheltering in place.
  • St. Vincent de Paul, $25,000, for buying emergency shelter and dining facility supplies due to the coronavirus.
  • SoHum Housing Opportunities, $12,420, for two weeks of motel rooms for homeless people in Southern Humboldt made vulnerable during the coronavirus and additional meals for other homeless individuals.
  • South Coast Education School District, $10,000, to support the Trauma Informed Training / Train the Trainer program for aides and teachers in Gold Beach & Port Orford, OR school districts.
  • Tolowa Dee-nì Nation, $26,835, for food delivery, sanitary supplies & PPE for 307 households in Curry & Del Norte counties.
  • Trillium Charter School, $2,000, to purchase outdoor equipment for social distance learning, including a mindfulness/meditation tent.
  • Trinity Center Volunteer Fire Department, $29,000, to refurbish 9 & replace 18 breathing apparatus (SBCA), PPE used to protect coronavirus transmission & for entering hazardous sites, including fires with unknown chemicals. Serves Trinity Center & into Weaverville. 
  • Trinity County Food Bank, $7,137.50, for assistance for organization/board strategy development process for the county food bank.
  • Trinity Community Food Outreach, $45,000, for August Fire victim & evacuee support supplies in Southern Trinity & NE Humboldt counties; to purchase an additional food storage unit for the county’s food bank in Weaverville, along with funds for seven pantries to purchase perishables not available through government programs; and support to build an all-weather addition for volunteers to prepare food for distribution.
  • United Indian Health Services, $18,200, to get food and meals to 1,300 elders in local Native communities during the coronavirus and during a gap in federal funding.
  • The Wiyot Tribe, $1,000, for extra hygiene, cleaning and pet supplies for elders.
  • WRCF Holiday Funding Partnership, $25,000, for most, if not all, of the community organizations in Del Norte and Curry counties that apply for the holiday grants provide services that have likely been impacted by the pandemic.
  • YouthAbility, Inc., $5,000, for general operating support and offering Angel of Hope training hours for vulnerable youth.
  • The Yurok Tribe, $40,000, to provide additional hygiene packages, food delivery and firewood to tribal members, including 900 elders and 500 at-risk youth; and for general operating support.

Contributions, small or large, can be made to the COVID-19 Regional Response Fund online at hafoundation.org/Giving/COVID19 or by mailing checks to HAF at 363 Indianola Rd, Bayside, CA 95524. For more info call (707) 442-2993.

Grants from the COVID-19 Regional Response Fund 

We are using a streamlined grants process to identify needs and make awards quickly from this fund. There is no application process. 

The COVID-19 Regional Response Fund will support urgent community needs identified by our regional partners. The fund is making grants on a weekly basis to nonprofits, charitable organizations and public agencies meeting the immediate needs of residents in Trinity, Humboldt, Del Norte and Curry counties. The Fund’s priority is vulnerable communities and the organizations that support them. This includes organizations and service providers serving first responders and healthcare providers; seniors; low-income families and youth; low-access residents; individuals with underlying conditions; disabled; veterans; homeless, housing or food insecure; Native Americans and at-risk communities of color; and those with limited or no healthcare resources. 

If your charitable organization wants to alert us of your funding needs in response to the coronavirus, please use the contact information below.

We are not able to make grants from this fund to individuals or small businesses at this time. We are working to ensure that individuals and businesses are cared for and we are exploring ways we can help them through this crisis. For individuals with health needs, see our Angel Fund for possible options. 

Contacts

For questions about grants from the fund email Sara Dronkers or call 707-442-2993 ext. 307.

For contributions, giving, fund information or media inquiries email Luis Chabolla or call 707-267-9905.  

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