As COVID-19 continues to spread in the United States, private foundations are stepping up with funding to meet the immediate needs of individuals and vulnerable populations impacted by the virus. Here's a roundup of grants from the last few days:

Caring for Colorado Foundation, Denver, CO | $3 Million

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Caring for Colorado Foundation has announced that it is easing reporting requirements for current grantees and converting the majority of its programmatic grants to general operating support. The foundation also announced a commitment of more than $3 million to help fund the immediate needs of healthcare safety net organizations, human service providers assisting families in the state, and emergency shelters and food banks.

Richard O. Jacobson Foundation, West Des Moines, IA | $2 Million

University of Iowa Health Care has announced a $2 million grant from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation to cover current and future expenses associated with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of coronavirus infections; emergency childcare, housing, and food costs for frontline healthcare workers; and the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Kansas Health Foundation, Wichita, KS | $5.3 Million

The Kansas Health Foundation has announced grants totaling $5.325 million in support of statewide efforts to boost access to health care ($2.825 million), address food insecurity ($2 million), and assist the United Way of the Plains with its COVID-19 response ($500,000). To date, KHF has authorized more than $16.3 million in support of emergency COVID-19 response and recovery efforts in the state.

Barr Foundation, Boston, MA | $2 Million

The Barr Foundation has announced twenty-three grants totaling $2 million to Massachusetts nonprofits serving immigrant communities, which face disproportionately high risks from the spread of COVID-19. Grant recipients include the African Community Education Program ($50,000), the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center ($100,000), Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores ($50,000), the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition ($150,000), and the Islamic Society of Boston ($50,000).

John Merck Fund, Henry P. Kendall Foundation, 1772 Foundation, Boston, MA and Providence, RI | $347,000

The John Merck Fund, the Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and the 1772 Foundation have announced grants totaling $347,000 to eleven New England organizations working to address the needs of farmers and other food producers impacted by COVID-19. Launched with commitments of $500,000 from the Merck Fund, $250,000 (and supporting resources) from the Kendall Foundation, and $100,000 from the 1772 Foundation, the New England Food System Resilience Fund hopes to raise at least $1 million to help reinforce, restore, and strengthen the resilience of the regional food system. 

Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, Detroit, MI | $1.6 Million

The Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation has announced emergency grants totaling $1.6 million in support of local organizations working to address immediate needs resulting from the COVID-19 public health crisis. Grants were awarded in the areas of early childhood care and education, arts, and human services in Jewish communities, among other priorities. Grant recipients include the Brightmoor Alliance, the Metropolitan Detroit Diaper Bank, the COVID-19 Arts and Creative Community Assistance Fund, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, and the Florida-based Community Foundation for Palm Beach & Martin Counties. 

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Flint, MI | $160,000

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has announced two grants totaling $160,000 in support of healthcare workers in Flint and Genesee County. A grant of $100,000 will help the University of Michigan–Flint keep its residence hall open so that healthcare workers at Genesee County hospitals have a place to stay at no cost, while a $60,000 grant will enable Freedom Center Church to purchase more than five thousand meals from Flint restaurants and have them delivered to local hospital workers.

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, Detroit, MI | $6 Million 

The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has announced commitments totaling $6 million to assist those working on the front lines of COVID-19 response and relief efforts in southeast Michigan and western New York. The foundation awarded grants totaling $1.5 million to provide assistance to workers at acute care hospitals, including Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health System, Rochester Regional Health, and the University of Rochester Medical Center. And it awarded $2 million to five human services agencies, including $200,000 to the United Way of Greater Rochester and Rochester Area Community Foundation for their Community Crisis Fund, as well as $2.5 million in support of efforts to meet the urgent needs of caregivers, small businesses and entrepreneurs, and early childhood care providers.

McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis, MN | $100,000

The McKnight Foundation has announced grants of $50,000 to Springboard for the Arts' Personal Emergency Relief Fund and the Intercultural Leadership Institute's emergency relief fund for black, Native and Indigenous, Latinx, and Hawaiian artists. The foundation also is offering one-year extensions to grantees who were eligible to apply for a grant renewal in 2020, has issued an extension on grant reports, and is making other efforts to maximize flexibility for its grantees and its McKnight Artist Fellowships and Regional Arts Council partners.

Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, New York, NY | $2 Million

The recently launched Louis Armstrong Emergency Fund for Jazz Musicians, an initiative of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation | LAEF, has announced a commitment of $1 million to provide one-time grants of $1,000 to freelance jazz musicians who live and/or work in New York City. 

Burton D. Morgan Foundation, Hudson, OH | $200,000 

The Burton D. Morgan Foundation has announced a $200,000 gift to the Small Business Emergency Relief Grant Program administered by the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce. Including the gift from the Morgan Foundation — $100,000 of which comes from funds awarded by the Richard J. Fasenmyer Foundation in support of startups — the grant program has raised more than $1.5 million to assist small for-profit businesses in Summit County that have been impacted by the coronavirus. 

Multiple Foundations, Metro Washington, DC | $2.5 Million

The leaders of eleven D.C.-area philanthropies have issued a joint statement announcing approximately $2.5 million in COVID-related funding in support of "a racially equitable response — one that prioritizes the leadership of Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and other people of color to respond to the immediate needs in their own communities, bolsters resilience in the face of this crisis, and builds power to push for long-lasting systemic change." To that end, the funders — the Consumer Health, Lois and Richard England Family, Greater Washington Community,Hill-Snowdon, Meyer, Open Society, Washington Area Women's, and Weissberg foundations and Diverse City, Emergent, and Horning Family funds — committed approximately $2 million in long-term funding and $500,000 in rapid response grants to underfunded organizations led by people of color in the D.C. region. Among other things, the grants are designed to show solidarity with "organizers, base builders, and advocates," support groups working hyperlocally, prioritize disproportionately impacted industries and workers, and encourage multi-pronged trust-based approaches that are transparent, streamlined, and flexible.

(Photo credit: Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition)