In mid-March, the Baltimore Community Foundation made a series of discretionary grants to meet urgent needs during the COVID-19 public health crisis. Simultaneously we launched the COVID-19 Evolving Community Needs Fund, ultimately raising more than $2.2 million from a wide range of generous donors to meet immediate, intermediate and long-range needs. We also partnered with other funders to create the COVID-19 Response Funding Collaborative of Greater Baltimore, accepting grant applications via a central portal for eight weeks throughout the spring. The Collaborative closed its application process, as planned, in May. 

In that first phase of our response, BCF awarded more than $912,000 to 88 organizations. COVID Response grants supported urgent needs like food assistance, credible information distribution, remote learning technology and community health programs among others.

We have already seen community needs evolve and know that the pandemic will continue to challenge our community with far-reaching effects. In July, we established the COVID-19 Response Task Force made up of BCF board members to guide our intermediate and longer-term grantmaking in response to the pandemic. The Task Force is composed of the following BCF board members:

• Lillian Bauder, Retired Executive
• Patricia P. Baum, RBC Wealth Management
• Ellen N. Bernard, Community Leader
• Brandon Etheridge, Baltimore Ravens
• Alec Ross, Author
• Kurt Schmoke, University of Baltimore

The Task Force is staffed by Laurie Latuda Kinkel, BCF's Vice President of Strategy.

Since July, BCF’s grantmaking from the COVID-19 Evolving Community Needs Fund has been focused on addressing educational equity concerns and the impacts of this public health crisis on our region’s most vulnerable students. Grantmaking during this period has supported a range of needs, including but not limited to:

• mental health supports for students and adults (parents, caregivers, teachers, school staff) 
• digital literacy supports for parents 
• school-aged child care / programs that provide supervised care for school-aged children during the school day 
• supports for students with disabilities/IEPs/504 plans 
• supports for English language learners 
• tutoring/remediation beyond what is offered through the public school virtual curriculum 
• meeting basic human needs of families (utilities, rent, food, etc.) 

The application period for COVID-19 Evolving Community Needs Fund grants addressing educational equity is now closed. 

BCF is grateful to the wide range of donors who have given more than $2.2 million to date to address the effects of the pandemic on local families and communities. We continue to accept donations to sustain our response long-term.

• For Nonprofit Organizations: The application process for the COVID-19 Evolving Community Needs Fund is now closed. Additional rounds of grants may be available depending on funding. 
• For Donors: To support BCF’s COVID-19 Evolving Community Needs Fund, donate now. 
• See the full list of COVID-19 Response grants made to date here.

Latest Updates