United Way’s COVID-19 Response Funds: The Efforts We’re Funding

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When COVID-19 hit locally, United Way of Lane County knew how vital immediate funding for nonprofits would be during this crisis. On March 20, we activated a COVID-19 Community Response Fund to support nonprofits’ efforts assisting those most affected by the pandemic.

As of May 21, United Way distributed a total of $309,040 in response funds through 131 grants to nonprofits across Lane County.

Programs Receiving Funding in Round One

Below are the specific projects funded ($2,500 unless otherwise listed) in round one of funding, illustrating the diverse needs of our community at this time.

  • Bethel Education Foundation: food and housing security support for undocumented and vulnerable families in Bethel School District

  • CASA: using technology to connect CASA advocates with children in state custody

  • Catholic Community Services: keeping pantries open; food, supplies, staffing expenses

  • Catholic Community Services Refugee and Immigrant Program: rental assistance for immigrant families in Cottage Grove

  • Center for Community Counseling: virtual counseling for low income and uninsured adults

  • Centro Latino Americano: rent relief to families who lost employment due spread of COVID-19

  • Coast Fork Watershed Council: facilitating food donations from local farms to low income immigrant families

  • Community Sharing: food relief for low-income individuals in South Lane

  • CORE Eugene: visiting unhoused youth encampments to provide hot food on weekends to supplement weekday services

  • DevNW: food relief and/or rental assistance for former foster youth living in DevNW affordable housing

  • First Baptist Oakridge: distributing food to children & supporting unhoused families ($500)

  • Florence Food Share: emergency food boxes for community members on palliative care

  • Food Backpacks for Kids: nutritional food bags for up to 110 at risk students in the Florence and Mapleton communities.

  • Food for Lane County: hygiene supports for Dining Room and Interfaith Breakfast

  • Junction City Local Aid: expansion of basic needs services to meet increased demands

  • Mapleton Food Share: food for 100 families in Mapleton area

  • McKenzie Food Pantry: basic needs for low income individuals and families in McKenzie Valley

  • McKenzie Valley Wellness: tablets for telehealth service in eastern Lane County ($1,500)

  • Mid Lane Cares: food pantry and emergency assistance programs for Fern Ridge area

  • NAACP: Keeping office open and distributing food boxes

  • Oregon Community Programs: adapting behavioral health programs for telehealth for vulnerable children, youth and their families

  • Planned Parenthood: adapting to telehealth to avoid transmission of STDs, unwanted pregnancies and spread of COVID-19

  • Rural Organizing Project: launching a distribution center for emergency food and basic needs items for South Lane School District students and families

  • The ARC: helping vulnerable families and people with disabilities with food assistance

  • Volunteers in Medicine Clinic: supporting adaptation to continue providing health care services to low income, medically underserved individuals

  • WellMama: mental health support for pregnant people

  • White Bird Clinic: laptops to continue service via the Crisis Services Center, serving serves highly vulnerable and unhoused individuals

Programs Receiving Funding in Round two

Below are the specific projects funded ($2,500 unless otherwise listed) in round two of funding:.

  • Alvadore Community Chest: Supporting low income residents of Alvadore with basic needs including rent, utilities, and household products (toilet paper, laundry soap).
  • Assistance League: Weekend Food Pantry program for schools in Eugene and Native youth in Springfield.
  • Christians as Family Advocates: Support via online, court mandated classes for mothers to maintain or regain custody of their children. ($1,000)
  • Cornerstone Community Housing: Supporting services for 3,000 residents of affordable housing, including food drops and help lines.
  • Daisy CHAIN: Expanding and modifying perinatal support programs to meet emerging needs
  • Downtown Languages: Rental and utilities assistance, emergency food and diapers for Latino and Immigrant families.
  • Eugene Mission: Support for crisis housing for unhoused individuals
  • Eugene YMCA: Providing child care for emergency responders, health care workers and essential workers.
  • Every Child Lane County: Providing food, childcare supplies and other needs to foster families
  • Family Relief Nursery: Prevention of child abuse and neglect in vulnerable families
  • First Place Family Center: Maintaining services for unhoused families at Night Shelter
  • Florence Farmers Market: Support to keep SNAP/Double Up program available for low income individuals shopping at the farmer's market ($1,500)
  • Florence United Methodist Church: Subway vouchers for low income and senior residents ($2,400)
  • Goldson Food Pantry: Supplies to continue providing emergency food boxes for residents of Cheshire and surrounding rural area.
  • Helping Hands Coalition: Providing sack lunches for homeless and low-income individuals in Florence.
  • HIV Alliance: Providing basic needs items (e.g., socks, water, food) and hygiene supplies (e.g., soap, hand sanitizer) to unhoused clients in Lane County.
  • Housing our Veterans: Providing rental assistance for veterans.
  • Junction City Local Aid: Scaling up services to meet growing demands for basic needs assistance
  • Lane County Diaper Bank: Providing diapers to distribution sites including First Place Family Center, WIC, 15th Night and Head Start.
  • McKenzie Personnel Systems: Food, rental assistance for individuals with I/DD while they are sheltered in place
  • Ophelia's Place: Online prevention-based telehealth for young women
  • Oregon Energy Fund: Energy assistance in partnership with Catholic Community Services.
  • Oregon Supported Living Program: Support for PPE and staffing costs to serve adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities ($1,500)
  • Parenting Now: Virtual parenting support for vulnerable families
  • Pearl Buck Center: Food, rental assistance and activity kits for clients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
  • Planned Parenthood: Installing plexiglass barriers for in-person critical care
  • Positive Community Kitchen: Providing food to home bound and ill community members.
  • Relief Nursery: Food relief, rental assistance and supports for vulnerable families
  • Row River Pantry: Providing food relief to 63 families.
  • Saint Vincent de Paul: Providing services to the unhoused
  • Senior & Disability Services: Respite and supplies for grandparents providing primary care to grandchildren
  • Siuslaw Outreach Services: Rental and utilities assistance for unhoused individuals
  • Soup's On: Weekly free Sunday dinner and sack lunch for 60-80 community members in Cottage Grove
  • South Lane Mental Health: Teletherapy for low income, rural clients and organizational stability
  • Sponsors, Inc.: Transitional housing and mental health supports for individuals released from state prison.
  • Square One Villages: Short-term rental costs for 5 elderly and fragile residents of Opportunity Village
  • The Child Center: Telehealth and crisis response for children and youth experiencing mental and/or behavioral health issues.
  • TransPonder: Supporting transgender people to receive the mental health supports and safe housing they require.
  • Trauma Healing Project: Trauma counseling services for vulnerable community members
  • Triangle Food Box: Providing additional food boxes for children and low income community members
  • Willamalane's Memorial Building: Covering costs of housing 100 members of the homeless population
  • Willamalane's WAAC: Staffing for senior meals drive-through program

Programs Receiving Funding in Round three

Below are the specific projects funded ($2,500 unless otherwise listed) in round three of funding.

  • 15th Night: Matching vulnerable community members' needs with resources from a network of 40+ agencies and 60+ community volunteers.

  • Assistance League of Eugene: Weekend Food Pantry program for school age children who are at risk of hunger.

  • Centro Latino Americano: Providing rental assistance to Latinx families who have lost employment due to the spread of COVID-19.

  • Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council: Working with local farms and ranches to provide food assistance to agencies serving low income community members in Creswell and Cottage Grove.

  • Dexter Food Pantry: Food relief and propane for 140 unhoused and low income families in the Dexter area.

  • Eugene-Springfield NAACP: Providing over 1,000 lunches and over 600 food boxes to needy families with a focus on communities of color. ($1,500)

  • Fern Ridge Community Action Network: Expanding the Double Up Food Bucks program for SNAP recipients at the Veneta Farmers Market, and expanding the Produce 4 Kids program.

  • First Presbyterian Church, Earth and Social Justice Committee: Supporting vulnerable and isolated seniors in South Lane County with food boxes and prepared meals.

  • Florence Food Share: Providing hygiene products for clients of Florence Food Share.

  • Food Backpack for Kids: Delivering weekend food boxes for 75 students in Florence and 23 students in Mapleton.

  • Full Access: Serving 287 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are at high risk for COVID-19 by providing care boxes with personal protective equipment, household items and other resources.

  • HIV Alliance: Providing basic needs assistance to unhoused clients accessing HIV Alliance services.

  • Homes for Good: Establishing emergency food pantries in site offices in Veneta, Florence, Junction City, Cottage Grove and Creswell to serve affordable housing residents.

  • Hosea Youth Services: Providing ongoing services to homeless young people ages 16-24 with access to showers, laundry, computer services and to-go meal boxes.

  • Huerto de la Familia: Providing rental assistance to immigrant families who are not eligible for the federal stimulus checks or unemployment.

  • Junction City Local Aid: Expanding staff and volunteer hours to meet increased demand for basic needs in Junction City, and adding a home delivery service.

  • Kids FIRST: Adding technology supports and sanitizing supplies to continue providing service to survivors of child abuse and domestic violence. ($1,000)

  • Mapleton Food Share: Providing food relief to over 100 families in Mapleton and surrounding communities.

  • Mid Lane Cares: Emergency Assistance program to prevent homelessness in the Fern Ridge community, through bill-pay assistance and referrals to community partner programs.

  • Nightingale Hosted Shelters: Providing food relief to residents of a city-sanctioned rest stop for people dealing with homelessness.

  • Oregon Community Programs: Providing emergency support to 19 vulnerable foster youth and their families.
    Relief Nursery: Providing weekly food boxes to 400 enrolled families with children under 6. ($2,445)

  • Sheldon Food Pantry: Providing monthly food boxes to families in need, with children at Sheldon area elementary, middle and high schools.

  • SquareOne Villages: Assisting with rental application fees and security deposits for medically vulnerable residents to move into permanent housing.

  • The Eugene Mission: Assisting with the costs of providing support and housing for 250 unhoused community members.

  • TransPonder: Providing peer support, case management and basic needs to transgender and gender diverse community members, including unhoused people.

  • Valley United Methodist Church: Providing a weekly hot, take out meal to over 100 individuals including the unhoused, seniors, and others impacted by layoffs from COVID-19 in Veneta. ($1,500)

  • White Bird Clinic: Providing tents for unhoused clients who are under shelter-in-care orders.

  • Willamette Farm and Food Coalition: Matching funds for Double Up Food Bucks program to double SNAP assistance for clients at rural farmers markets. ($1,000)

Programs Receiving Funding in Round FOUR

Below are the specific projects funded ($2,500 unless otherwise listed) in round three of funding.

  • Assistance League of Eugene: Supporting Weekend Food Pantry in serving 137 bags of supplementary food every two weeks for low-income families at risk of hunger.

  • Boys & Girls Club of Western Lane County: Purchasing food for 200 weekly take and bake hot meals for families in Florence.

  • Buena Vista Parent Organization (BVPO): Providing food, toiletries, and rent/utlities assistance for student families.

  • Coast Form Willamette Watershed Council: Securing food from local farms and businesses to be provided to those in need in Cottage Grove.

  • Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC): Supporting the SAfER program, including an ongoing emergency food pantry and food box distribution specifically focused on serving LatinX immigrant community in Springfield.

  • Community Outreach through Radical Empowerment (CORE): Providing support and supplies for street feed program, increasing frequency of programs from once per month to weekly to provide 1,000 free meals and supplies for youth and young adults.

  • Cornerstone Community Housing: Increasing services for 1,000 households they serve including providing food, supplies, and support to help them to maintain household stability.

  • DevNW: Increasing access for low and moderate income families to financial well-being programming.

  • Direction Service: Providing relief to youth with disabilities, homeless youth, and people with behavioral and mental health diagnosis through financial assistance for food, transportation, medical needs, prescriptions, learning materials, and adaptive equipment.

  • Downtown Languages: Providing rental assistance to immigrant and Latino families.

  • Eugene Education Foundation: Supporting Eugene School District 4J’s Wraparound Services Team in providing basic needs assistance to families experiencing food insecurity and economic instability.

  • Family Relief Nursery: Supporting respite services, activity kits, online learning, and basic needs assistance for families at risk of child abuse in rural south Lane County.

  • First Christian Church: Maintaining and expanding weekly sack lunch program.

  • Friends of the Cottage Grove Public Library: Providing coupons to purchase food from local farm stands and educational materials to distribute to 1500 children.

  • Goldson Food Pantry: Providing emergency food boxes to low income families in Cheshire and the surrounding rural communities. ($1,000)

  • Habitat for Humanity of Central Lane: Supporting construction of a habitat home for a family of four.

  • Helping Hand: Stocking rural food pantry serving 77 families and rental assistance.

  • HIV Alliance: Providing basic needs assistance to unhoused clients accessing HIV Alliance services.

  • Junction City Local Aid: Supporting food pantry services, emergency food boxes, and basic needs assistance.

  • Lane County Diaper Bank: Expanded temporary diaper distribution services. ($1,500)

  • Looking Glass Community Services: Providing grocery gift cards to 50 unhoused youth in south Lane County.

  • Lower McKenzie Community Resources: Purchasing an additional freezer at food distribution site.

  • McKenzie River Food Pantry: Providing food and operations support for food pantry serving 75 families.

  • Monroe Middle School: Supporting access to food and basic needs support for Monroe families.

  • Parenting Now!: Assistance for staff salaries to support expansion of parenting education and support services.

  • Relief Nursery Inc.: Providing emergency funds for rent and utility assistance for families.

  • Rural Organizing Project: Expanding distribution of food and basic needs items to students and families in south Lane County.

  • South Eugene Robotics Team: Providing materials for production of face shields and masks for distribution to local medical facilities. ($1,000)

  • South Lane Mental Health: Purchasing PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to allow re-opening of in person mental health services in south Lane County.

  • St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County: Supporting operations for Girls Youth House, transitional housing for 13 homeless youth.

  • Transponder: Providing mental health and housing support for transgender community members.

  • Triangle Food Box: Purchasing additional food and personal hygiene items and supporting operations.

  • Willamette Family Inc.: Purchasing phone cards and chargers to continue tele-health services. ($1,695)

  • Willamette Farm and Food Coalition: Matching funds for Double Up Food Bucks program to double SNAP assistance for clients at farmers markets.

Future Rounds of Funding

We will be announcing future opportunities for funding soon, check back for details.

How Funds Are Possible

The funds being distributed in this process have come from the generosity of our community—donations, large and small, from businesses, foundations, and individual community members like you.

The need is great, and applications are continuing to pour in.

Please consider making a gift to the COVID-19 Community Response Fund, to ensure more services—like rent assistance for the unemployed, food boxes for families, telehealth for the houseless, and more—can be provided to our community in the days and weeks to come.

Every contribution counts: make a gift to the COVID-19 Response Fund today.

COVID-19United Way of Lane County