“Without any income, families are having to prioritize what little resources they may have to get through the COVID-19 crisis, leaving their rent and utilities unpaid. These families were already struggling before this crisis, but now these demands are even more prevalent,” said Brittany Chaffee, Downtown Hope’s Love Annapolis advocate volunteer. “As a team, we are striving to serve these families by making sure their day-to-day needs are met.”

Downtown Hope was one of 64 different nonprofits throughout the county to receive a grant from the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County’s (CFAAC) Community Crisis Response Fund. To date, 123 grants totaling $260,231 were awarded. Most recently, CFAAC funded $42K in its fifth cycle to 20 local nonprofits that serve the county’s most vulnerable and at-risk populations including seniors, children, low-income or food-insecure families, and the recently unemployed.

This latest grantmaking provided funding for organizations to purchase and distribute food and essential items to maintain safe and healthy environments, as well as provide assistance to Anne Arundel County residents who are facing housing insecurity and homelessness. Organizations such as Downtown Hope, whose Love Annapolis team is in direct contact with families regarding their specific needs, are ensuring that the county’s most vulnerable residents are taken care of during this crisis. The team not only provides these families with basic necessities like food, toiletries, diapers, and school supplies, they also assist families who are struggling financially to keep up on bills such as rent and utilities. Love Annapolis has established pop up pantries, which have served 2,500 individuals over the last three months.

Fifth Cycle Community Crisis Response Fund Grantees:

• Agape Deliverance Ministries, Inc.- Project Farm 2 Families Mobile Food Pantry: Grant awarded to purchase and distribute food to low-income North County residents in Glen Burnie and Old Mill.
• Arundel House of Hope- Grant awarded to provide emergency shelter, food, and other support service for the homeless across Anne Arundel County, who are particularly vulnerable to the virus because of underlying health conditions, the lack of proper sanitation methods, and the inability to self-quarantine or isolate.
• BeMoreCaring, Inc.- Project Helping the Homeless During COVID-19: Grant awarded to purchase and distribute essential items such as food, water, and toiletries to North Anne Arundel County homeless residents.
• Be Rose International Foundation, Inc.- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute food and essential items to maintain safe and healthy environments to low-income communities across Anne Arundel County.
• Blessed in Tech Ministries Inc.- Grant awarded to distribute essential items such as food, prescriptions, and transportation assistance, as well as items to maintain safe and healthy environments, including cleaning and hygiene supplies, to low income seniors in West Anne Arundel County.
• Calvary United Methodists Church- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute items such as food, baby supplies, and other essential items through West Annapolis Pop-Up Pantries serving the low-income and recently unemployed residents in areas like Allen Apartments, Tyler Heights, and Robinwood.
• Center of Help, Inc.- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute items such as food, baby supplies, and other essential items to maintain safe and healthy environments to 100 Hispanic-Latino families living in Anne Arundel County.
• City of Refuge Baltimore- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute food and essential items to maintain safe and healthy environments to low-income Anne Arundel County residents in Brooklyn Park.
• Downtown Hope- Project COVID-19 Love Annapolis: Grant to purchase and distribute essential items such as food, formula, diapers, medicine, transportation assistance, and items to maintain safe and healthy environments to Annapolis residents.
• Helping Hands of America, Inc.- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute essential items such as food, formula, diapers, transportation assistance, and items to maintain safe and healthy environments to Anne Arundel County children and their families through the organization’s Mobile Emergency Baby and Children's Pantry.
• Kid Changemakers- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute essential items such as food, medicine, baby supplies, baby food, formula, as well as items to maintain safe and healthy environments, including cleaning and hygiene supplies, to Anne Arundel County residents in Glen Burnie, Severn, Annapolis, Jessup, and Gambrills.
• Kingdom Kare, Inc.- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute essential items such as food, formula, diapers, medicine, and transportation assistance, as well as items to maintain safe and healthy environments, including cleaning and hygiene supplies, to West Anne Arundel County residents, including Meade Village, Hanover, Still Meadows and Pioneer City.
• Langton Green, Inc.- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute essential items to maintain safe and healthy environments, specifically cleaning and hygiene supplies, to Anne Arundel County residents who are intellectually and developmentally disabled.
• The Light House Homeless Prevention Center- Project Light House Bistro - Food Distribution for Homeless and Food Insecure Community Members: Grant awarded to purchase and distribute food for the 25-30 homeless Anne Arundel County clients.
• My Life Foundation, Inc.- Project Support Food and Basic Needs for the Asian American Community: Grant awarded to purchase and distribute culturally appropriate food and essential items to maintain safe and healthy environments to Anne Arundel County residents in Glen Burnie, Millersville, Crofton, Hanover, and Pasadena.
• Nichols Bethel United Methodist Church - Project Backpack Buddies Program: Grant awarded to purchase and distribute food and essential items to maintain safe and healthy environments to food-insecure students and their families across West Anne Arundel County, including Odenton, Gambrills, Crofton, Severn, and Jessup.
• Pennies from Angels, Inc.- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute food, diapers, and other essential items to maintain safe and healthy environments to North Anne Arundel County residents.
• Providence Center, Inc.- Grant awarded to provide transportation assistance to Anne Arundel County residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities, who work at essential jobs and who otherwise would not be able to get to work.
• The Church At Severn Run- Grant awarded to purchase and distribute essential items such as food, baby supplies, diapers, and transportation assistance to vulnerable West Anne Arundel County residents through their emergency food pantry.
• Walk the Walk Foundation- Project LOVE AACO: Grant awarded to purchase and distribute essential items such as food, diapers, feminine products, and other items to maintain safe and healthy environments to Anne Arundel County residents.

“Our local nonprofits are on the front lines assisting our community and the Foundation’s Community Crisis Response Fund is continuing its efforts to help them help others,” said Mary Spencer, President & CEO of the CFAAC. “We realize that the individuals and families our county nonprofits serve are struggling even more as the pandemic continues. Quickly approving grants is paramount to us so that organizations such as Downtown Hope can provide almost immediate relief during these challenging times.”

More than $400,000 has been raised so far from CFAAC’s donor advised funds, individual donors, foundations, and local businesses. CFAAC has made grants through the Community Crisis Response Fund on a monthly basis since the beginning of the pandemic, adapting and expanding the focus areas based on the needs of the community, and will continue for as long as funding is available. Applications for the sixth cycle of grantmaking will be open from September 7^th through September 18^th. Grants will be made to local nonprofit organizations that are addressing the increase in community needs and demand for services in the following impact areas: food and/or family support for basic human needs, or services to those facing homelessness or housing insecurity.

Those wishing to contribute can:

• Make a secure, tax-deductible online donation through www.cfaac.org.
• Mail a check payable to “CFAAC” with “Community Crisis Response Fund” in the memo line to: 900 Bestgate Road, Ste. 400, Annapolis, MD, 21401.

Organizations Seeking Funding:

CFAAC will be opening the sixth cycle of grant funding from its Community Crisis Response Fund on September 7th. Interested organizations should follow www.cfaac.org/community-crisis-response-fund.html-0 for more information or sign-up for CFAAC’s newsletter.

CFAAC’s Community Crisis Response Fund allows for funding priorities to shift according to the most critical needs in Anne Arundel County. All grants from CFAAC’s Community Crisis Response Fund will be made to IRS-qualified 501(c)(3) public charities; the fund is not able to provide grants directly to individuals.