Here is an overview of how COVID relief funds have been used in the past two years to spearhead urgent relief efforts for individuals and families affected by the pandemic, as well as to support longer-term resilience. 

2021 COVID-19 Community Action Fund Grants

• Asian Women’s Christian Association (AWCA): $25,000 to continue supporting food pantries that feed low-income families.  
• Hollaback: $25,000 to fund bystander training videos for the youth in order to help end harassments in public spaces. 
• Immigrant History Initiative: $25,000 to support Asian American identity and equity workshops.  
• Korean American Senior Citizens Association of NJ: $25,000 to provide social service counseling and connect Korean American senior citizens to meal services in northern New Jersey.
• Korean Community Services (KCS): $25,000 to help invest in safety equipment that is critical for the safety of their clients and staff.
• Milal Mission (NY): $25,000 to continue providing online programming and support services to young people with disabilities.
• National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF): $50,000 to better understand the current state of safety for Asian American and Pacific Islander women across the country and to understand how elected officials can better serve this community and ensure their wellbeing.
• Nanoom House: $25,000 to move to a new location and continue offering shelter services and addiction counseling.
• WomanKind: $25,000 to provide emergency cash assistance to domestic violence survivors. 
• YWCA of Queens: $50,000 to provide food boxes to Korean, Asian, and immigrant families who are struggling with food security on a monthly basis. 

2020 First Wave of COVID-19 Community Action Fund Grants

• Asian American Federation (AAF): $5,000 to provide in-language resources to Korean and Chinese small business owners about COVID-19 relief measures.
• Asian Women’s Christian Association (AWCA): $10,000 to deliver Korean food baskets/grocery store gift cards to families facing economic hardship in the Bergen County, NJ area, as well as provide COVID-19 information in Korean, Japanese and Chinese through its hotline and KaKaoTalk.  
• Korean-American Physicians Association of NY (KAMPANY): $10,000 to operate a COVID-19 medical hotline and offer telemedicine consultations in the Korean language. 
• Korean American Civic Empowerment (KACE): $10,000 to provide information and legal counseling about small business COVID-19 relief packages and unemployment benefits.  
• Korean Community Services (KCS): $10,000 to help people impacted by COVID-19 to complete applications for unemployment, Economic Injury Disaster loans, Small Business loans and other relief programs offered by the government, as well as enroll those who are eligible for public benefit programs.
• Korean American Family Service Center (KAFSC): $10,000 to offer virtual and in-person counseling for families affected by intimate partner and family violence, in response to increased domestic violence during the pandemic.  
• WomanKind: $5,000 to provide emergency shelter services for women and children affected by domestic violence, and to support increasing needs to care for clients and frontline staff during the pandemic. 

2020 Second Wave of COVID-19 Community Action Fund Grants

• Asian American Federation (AAF): $5,000 to provide community education about anti-Asian racism and harassment, and to track hate crime cases.
• Esther Ha Foundation: $10,000 to provide mental health support, specifically around anxiety during COVID-19, and trauma support for family members who have lost loved ones during the pandemic.
• Family Touch: $10,000 to provide virtual family counseling and food boxes for seniors and low-income families.
• MinKwon Center for Community Action: $35,000 to provide emergency cash assistance to eligible Korean American individuals and families in New Jersey who are excluded from major forms of emergency relief including federal stimulus funds, unemployment benefits, and SNAP food assistance.
• Milal Mission in New York: $10,000 to provide online recreational and spiritual activities for people with disabilities to help them feel not isolated, reduce anxiety, and be engaged and active, as well as offer respite for parents.
• Nanoom House: $20,000 to provide food and shelter serving as a critical haven for homeless Korean Americans during the pandemic.
• YWCA of Queens: $10,000 for a weekly food pantry for 400 Korean Americans in Flushing, NY. 

2020 Third Wave of COVID-19 Community Action Fund Grants

• Bergen Volunteer Medical Initiative: $5,000 to provide telehealth and ongoing medical support in the Korean language during the pandemic. 
• CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities: $10,000 to organize a rent relief campaign and mutual aid for Asian families living in public housing in Queens.
• Chinese-American Planning Council: $5,000 to call on NYC Government to develop a plan for long-term recovery of AAPI individuals, families, small businesses, and community institutions.  
• Communities Resist: $5,000 to provide public benefits counseling including unemployment, as well as help small business owners with relief packages and legal support for housing.
• CMP: $10,000 to help individuals apply for unemployment benefits and small business relief.  
• Community Inclusion & Development Alliance: $5,000 to provide online activities for individuals with developmental disabilities and support for their families.
• Korean American Family Service Center: $10,000 to provide food assistance for families.
• Renaissance Economic Development Corporation: $10,000 to provide emergency small business loans. 

© Korean Community Services (KCS)

COVID-19 will continue to affect our nonprofit partners.

KACF is committed to sustaining our community through the crisis and toward long-term recovery.

Please support this ongoing work to restore the health and economic security of Korean Americans.